


Parallels

by cosmiqueer



Category: Minecraft: Story Mode - Fandom
Genre: AlternateUniverse, Angst, Death, Luktra - Freeform, MCSM - Freeform, Multi, aidkas, mcsmau, minecraftstorymode, minecraftstorymodeau
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2020-10-10 01:42:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 47
Words: 165,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20519885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmiqueer/pseuds/cosmiqueer
Summary: Timelines.Duplicate paths.Alternate dimensions.Different people, living the same life in different universes.They were never meant to collide.A coincidental discovery tosses Jess, Lukas, and Radar into a mind-twisting adventure, where there's secrets to discover, allies to make, and a secretive new villain to defeat.But nothing is quite as black-and-white as it first appears, and it soon becomes obvious that as bad as things seem to be, they can always get worse. Things quickly begin spiraling into chaos, with a truly terrible consequence if time should run out before all the problems are solved and mysteries untangled.What started out as a curious investigation becomes a terrifying race against time, where even the most obvious things become twisted beyond all recognition.After all, when the universe as you know it is changing before your very eyes, can you even trust yourself?





	1. PROLOGUE- Seven Gravestones

**Author's Note:**

> -male Jesse pov  
-post season 2

Graves. Seven of them, spaced out into two rows. Five of these resting places are covered by grass, with small flowers springing cheerily up, though the last two are but freshly-laid dirt.

A shovel is stuck into the ground next to the last grave, and a woman stands beside it, glaring at the headstone like it has personally offended her. She is young, only in her early twenties, but the things she has been through have aged her mind decades beyond her physical form.

She is resentful of the fact that she's had to dig so many graves in such a short time.

Seven years is not a long enough gap between the first death and the last. Though this woman is not prone to deeming something fair or unfair, the unjustness of the whole situation gnaws bitterly at her very core.

But she is not weeping, nor showing any visible signs of the grief she feels. No tears mar her greyed skin, no sobs shake her thin form. She is a statue, staring down at the last grave as though she can see nothing else.

She is not concerned with the passing of yet another friend. She is too busy contemplating vengeance.

Her head turns, just the slightest bit. She gazes at a pair of graves near the most recent two, not freshly dug but not yet old. Below the dirt lie two people she cared for, two people who were gone far too soon.

Two people who, before their respective deaths, helped her learn exactly what she needs to accomplish her dark wish. 

_Payback. Revenge. A second chance. The ability to make things right. To put things back to how they should've been. Redemption, for myself and all of you._

_I will do it. I will get there. I promise. I promise._

She stands there for an indeterminant amount of time, staring hard-heartedly at the row of stones, her mind filled with dark, angry whispers.

Something bumps against her leg, nudging her out of her trance. The woman looks down at the large pink pig standing beside her, and though she leans down to gently scratch him behind the ears, her grim expression doesn't change.

She turns then, to look behind her. A man is standing at the entrance to the graveyard, clearly waiting for her. She nods to him, and, after another long glance at the seven tombs, begins walking up the narrow path.

The pig follows dutifully as she once again leaves the lines of graves behind. Though she may not visit her friends' final resting places all that frequently, hardly ever does a day pass when she does not think of them. They are, after all, both the thing that keeps her going and the reason she needs to be convinced to continue on.

Silently, she and the man walk together back to town. They have no need for words, as they have been through this routine many, many times. He knows that she will not wish to speak, not of her grief nor the things she is planning to do to assuage that unspoken pain. She will not answer, so he does not ask.

The tall spires of their town come into view. Once, the woman was the leader there, before she succumbed to her darkness and rage. Once, that city was a glorious metropolis, attracting a great number of people to reside inside its walls. Once, things were different.

Now, it is a divided place, dangerous for all those who are not a deadly force of their own. All the allure of the city it used to be has waned, and been replaced by the fear and hate better suited to a dystopia than a place with an illustrious past like Beacontown's.

As they slink back into the corrupt city, the woman's mantra fills her head again.

_I will have my revenge. I will get you back, all of you. I'm almost there, I've nearly gotten it figured out. I promise. Everything will be as it should be, I promise._


	2. the Map to Nowhere

**Jess POV**

I tucked the map into my inventory, staring out at the forest in front of me. The forest that, according to said map, should not exist.

This didn't make any sense.

The map showed that right then, I should've been standing at the front gates of a humble little town. It didn't look like much- only a handful of buildings were visible on the paper.

But there was _nothing_ there. Just trees and grass and a few animals walking around, with a river some ways to my right. Nothing even beginning to resemble a town.

When I looked at that map for the first time, I'd instinctively known there was something wrong with it. I would rather not admit how much time I spent staring at that damn piece of parchment, trying to figure out what about it bothered me, before I finally figured it out. I'd never been to that specific area before, but I was pretty sure there was no settlement there. I compared it to one of Jack's maps, and sure enough: no town.

So then, why was it on that map? And where had the damn paper even come from?

All I knew was, it had seemingly appeared on my desk about a week earlier. For several days it had rested at the back of my mind, with me not having enough time to actually investigate. But that day, I had managed to clear a gap in my schedule, just long enough to ride out there and see for myself if the mysterious map was wrong or right.

And now that I knew it was false, I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

I settled on puzzled.

Where in the Overworld could it possibly have come from? Everything else on it was accurate, down to the colour of the wall around Beacontown.

So what did this paper town mean?

My horse, a beautiful black-and-white paint mare whom I call Inara, gently nudged my shoulder with her muzzle. I startled slightly, then reached up to stroke her nose, murmuring, "Well, this was kind of a waste of time, wasn't it?"

She whickered softly by way of reply, and I smiled slightly despite my internal confusion. I've always had a habit of talking to animals, and I love when they act like they're talking back. "We should go back to Beacontown before Radar gets worried." I added softly.

Instead of following my own advice, however, I continued to stare bemusedly out at the unassuming forest for several minutes more. Something about the whole little situation felt terribly _off_, though at the time I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

Inara bumped my shoulder again, and I let out a mildly frustrated sigh. I just wanted to know what this was all about, and yet there were no answers anywhere in sight. There wouldn't be a solution in Beacontown either, but at least there was other things to be done there, things that could hopefully take my mind off this aggravating mystery.

I clambered back into the saddle and steered Inara in the direction of my hometown. She set off at a brisk trot, apparently more eager to get back than I was.

_Maybe it means nothing at all_, I considered. _Maybe it was sent as a prank or something._

_Maybe I'm just desperate for a problem to solve._

Sometimes, I regret not going with Petra when she walked away from Beacontown three months prior. It would've been damn near perfect, the two of us out adventuring in the vast unknown. I would've been able to really be there for her, should she need the reassurance of a friend again. It would've been wonderful to consistently spend time with her again, the brave woman who used to be one of my best friends. I would've been free of all the little things that plagued me in my day-to-day life, all the stress and trouble that came from the whole ordeal with that blasted Admin.

It would've been so, _so_ many great things.

But I couldn't have left Beacontown. I simply could not have brought myself to be that selfish. The town needed me more than ever, with all the chaos that Romeo had left behind. I needed to regain peoples' trust, go out of my way to prove that all the horrible things the Admin had done in my name wasn't me at all.

Abandoning the town so soon after the whole mess would _not_ have accomplished that.

So, I stayed. I remained the leader of Beacontown, and continued shouldering the burdens that came with the title.

It's not all that bad. There are people to help and paperwork to do and a vast assortment of things to think about and remember, but that's manageable, for the most part. The citizens _do_ still trust me- it didn't take long to convince them that everything was the Admin's doing.

(Actually, I'm pretty sure most of them were quite relieved that I hadn't suddenly morphed into a narcissistic power-hungry lunatic.)

But it's time-consuming. I got caught up in my work, and before I knew it, three days could pass without me getting so much as an hour of sleep. And it could become highly monotonous, to the point that I've sometimes felt like I've had to solve the same issue at least four times. Little things pile up, and problems can become catastrophes all too quickly.

For that moment, though, I decided to let it go and focus on the ride home. For all its flaws and the troubles it caused me, I wouldn't trade Beacontown for anything else in the world.

Well. _Almost_ anything else.

As always, the return journey seemed quicker than the time it took me to get out there. It seemed like it had only been a few minutes before the tall gates of Beacontown come into view, though I knew that, logically, it had been much longer than that. A gentle pull on the reigns convinced Inara to halt, and I swiftly dismounted.

The gates stood wide open, like they always did during the day. It may not be the most secure decision, but I wanted to make sure that it was obvious that everyone was welcome there. The entrance to the town used to be made of red clay and terracotta, but it had been recently changed to purple. After the whole ordeal with the Admin, I could hardly stand to look at the colour red.

I got the usual friendly gestures and occasional stares from people as I strode through town with Inara in tow, heading towards the stables. The long spruce building that serves as the home for most of the horses in Beacontown was built by Olivia and I at least six years ago. For the most part, we were fine with walking wherever we wanted to go, but we wanted the stable to be near our home in case we would ever need a mount quickly. Nowadays, I preferred riding, since I always seemed to have a deadline at which I needed to be back. I get distracted far too easily when travelling on foot.

After unsaddling and brushing my horse (and giving her a well-deserved carrot), I made my way towards the Order's headquarters. Well, it _used_ to be the Order's, but at the time, I was the only one who lived there anymore.

Just as I had expected, Radar was waiting to ambush me the moment I'd stepped through the doors.

"Boss! I'm glad you're back; there's still a lot to be done. There was some disagreement over on the north side of town, someone wants to expand a building, but someone else thinks it'd be too close to their house? I don't know, you'll have to go check it out. Oh, and you have-"

"Radar." I tried. When he gets going, practically _nothing_ can shut him up, but that doesn't mean I don't try.

"-meeting with Kellin later, about that problem in the aquatic district. And this woman asked me where she might find some...slightly nefarious potion ingredients, so I directed her towards Bad Luck Alley. She seemed kinda fishy, so you might want to investigate-"

"_Radar_."

"And Stacy can't find one of her dogs, so she's wondering if she can put up posters, I told her it was probably fine but that she should double-check with you, so you'll have to talk to her later. And-"

"Radar can I PLEASE sit down first!" I exclaimed. "I appreciate that you're so efficient, but I need a chance to freaking _breathe_ before you talk my ear off!"

He winced. "Sorry, sorry, I know."

"It's not your fault." I said with a brief shake of my head as we headed towards my office. "It's honestly great that you're able to keep track of all this, but you gotta remember, I am _never_ prepared to listen the very instant I get home."

"I know." he said again. Over the past few months, Radar had gotten much more used to my disorganization and lack of ability to remember 'trivial' things. He's pretty good at keeping me on track, which means he's also gotten more immune to the yelling that comes with my streak of impatience for dealing with things in the first five minutes of returning from a journey.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Radar asked.

I flopped down behind my desk, pushing aside a few papers so I could rest my elbows on the slab of wood. "Yes. But at the same time, entirely not. Kind of."

"So...no town?"

"No town." I retrieved the map from my inventory again and set it on the desk in front of me. "I know I already asked this, but you're _sure_ you don't know where it came from?" I asked, gesturing to the paper in front of me.

He shook his head. "One-hundred-percent certain. I didn't know it was there before you pointed it out, and I never saw anyone in here. I _wish_ I knew, but...nope."

I sighed. I already knew he was just as clueless as I, but like he'd just said, that didn't stop me from wishing.

"I just don't get it. There's nothing but forest there, so where the hell did this thing come from?"

"Maybe it's a really old map? Like, there _used_ to be a town there, but it's been destroyed?" Radar guessed.

"Can't be." I shook my head and tapped a point on the map. "Beacontown looks exactly the same as it does on all our recent charts, down to the colour of the walls. Plus, it was a completely immaculate forest. It didn't look like there'd been anyone even passing through there in _years_."

He scowled down at the paper, biting his lower lip. I heard him softly mutter something along the lines of 'makes no dang sense'.

I leaned back in my chair. "What did I miss while I was gone?" I'd only been absent for a few hours, but a lot can happen in that short stretch of time.

"Right!" Radar visibly perked up, forgetting the map.

He repeated the list of tasks, this time taking care to explain things more clearly. It all had sounded like fairly typical Beacontown stuff and shouldn't take me too long to take care of, since things had been running surprisingly smoothly in my crazy, wonderful, little town.

"I _think_ that's it, but- oh, wait, I almost forgot! The mail came, and you got a letter from Petra." Radar reached into his inventory and handed me an envelope.

I immediately sat up straighter. Petra had only sent me one letter since she left, and that one had been brief, positive, and was now nearly two months old. "Yeah? What does she have to say?" I asked eagerly.

He grinned. "Well, it's kind of just for you. Y'know how she is."

I took the envelope from him and instantly realized what he meant. Large black words covered the front of it, followed by a small illustration of a sword: **For Jess's eyes only! Any snoops will be found and killed!**

I laughed, ripping the envelope open and pulling out the folded sheet of paper inside. The sight of Petra's familiar haphazard handwriting was strangely comforting.

The letter was as follows:

_Hello to my favorite nerdy mayor! (Yes yes, I know, you're '''technically''' not the Mayor, don't look at me like that. Same difference. And don't even TRY to argue the nerd part!)_

_I know it's been a while since I wrote, so I just wanted you to know that yeah, I'm still alive. I'm sure you'll be honored to know that you do still rank fairly high on my priority list- I actually went into a major town to send this letter!_

_Things have been GREAT out here. I can't believe I forgot how much I love not being around people. You would not even begin to imagine some of the things this world has in store for those who know where to look- it's incredible._

_Turns out being alone is a lot different when it's by choice. I know I kinda freaked out at you because I was so lonely back before the whole Admin mess, but I'm okay now. Being on my own doesn't feel quite so...isolated when it's something I chose to do.   
(there's your Life Lesson with Petra for the week ha ha)_

_I miss you, though. Still kinda wish you'd come along, but I know you probably have a ton of things to do in Beacontown. I hope you're having fun with all your leader duties while I'm out here discovering Mooshroom islands :)_

_Seriously, though. Take care of yourself and don't work too hard. I would be VERY DISAPPOINTED if I had to come back to deal with you having a mental breakdown._

_(Also, you are required to burn this letter as soon as you finish reading. No one else is allowed to know I have feelings!)_

_You don't have to worry though- I'm not totally alone anymore. A few weeks ago I found this adorable little wolf pup, and she's been keeping me company. You're gonna think this is weird, but I've been calling her Sammy. Just...don't tell Jack._

_Side note- if you ever happen to acquire a puppy, be careful where you put your boots, because they WILL get chewed._

_I hope everything's alright in Beacontown. I know you can't write back to tell me, but I'm saying it anyways. I'm pretty sure I'm psyching myself out, though, because what's the worst that could happen? Another Admin? Another Witherstorm? (That would sure give Lukas something to write about!)_

_Speaking of things happening, I found something you might be interested in. A few days ago, I happened to be fairly near the old Order's temple, and I decided to visit it, for nostalgia's sake or something. Honestly, I'm not totally sure what possessed me to stop by there, but there's some things in that library-room that I think you should see. I'm not really sure how to explain them, so I'm just gonna trust that you'll be able to piece it together on your own. All I can say is, it's...weird. It's all pretty weird. Hopefully you'll be able to figure it all out._

_Anyway, I think that's all I have to say. I'll certainly have lots of stories to tell you once I come back, but that's probably not gonna be for a while. No offense to you or Beacontown, but at the moment I'm pretty happy out here and am planning to make that last as long as possible._

_I already said I miss you, so I'm not gonna bother saying it again because I'm pretty sure that falls into the category of 'needlessly sappy'. Give Jack a hug for me, and make sure to try to punch Ivor if you happen to see him._

_-your best and most awesome warrior friend :)_

_P.s. That's Petra, in case you've forgotten me already. You better not have, though._

I put down the paper. "Well, she seems happy."

"Really?" Radar asked. I nodded. "Definitely. I'm glad everything's working out for her."

I frowned slightly as I skimmed through the contents of the letter again. "She apparently got a dog. And she says she found something in the old Order's temple she wants me to check out."

Radar raised his eyebrows, though I didn't know which statement he was reacting to. "Yeah? What kind of _something_?"

"Not sure. She didn't specify. All she said was that it was..." I glanced down at the paper. "Uh, 'pretty weird', and that she's 'not sure how to explain them' but that 'hopefully I'll be able to figure it all out'."

He let out a small huff. "Well, that sounds shady."

I shrugged. "Yeah, but what can you expect from Petra and the old Order? Both of them are basically the definition of 'shady'."

"Are you planning to go out there?" he asked, sounding a little apprehensive.

I hesitated for a second. I certainly _wanted_ to go check it out, but I didn't know if I'd have the time, since it would take several hours to ride all the way to the temple and back. Not to mention that I'd already skipped town once today. "Well, I'd like to. Maybe...is there any way we could clear my schedule for tomorrow?" I asked hesitantly.

Radar gave me a stern look, which was something he was surprisingly skilled at despite being so small and good-natured. "Jess..."

"I know, I know. I've got things to do. Trust me, I _know_. But I want to know what Petra found. Hell, maybe it's even connected to that whole crazy map somehow. I just...I trust Petra, and if she says there's something there that I should know about, then I feel duty-bound to go investigate."

Radar held his ground for a few moments more, then sighed. "Alright. I don't think there's _too_ much going on tomorrow, so I'm pretty sure I can move some things around. But don't..._please_ don't find some way to get yourself wrapped up in some crazy new adventure? I just would like a _few_ more weeks of normality, if that's possible."

I grinned, and got up from my chair. "I'll try my hardest, but no promises. Now, should we go see what that issue was in the aquatic district?"

We left the headquarters, heading back out into Beacontown, and what we thought was most important. What we believed was the best course of action.

What we thought took priority over the mystery that was beginning to show its face, right under our noses.


	3. the Wrong Kind of Nostalgia

I dismounted Inara, pulling a lead from my inventory and quickly securing her bridle to the fence outside Lukas’s house. My inventory was full of supplies, and I was more than ready for the journey.

Now, I just needed my travelling partner.

The night before, Lukas had stopped by Beacontown just like he usually did every few days. He’d become quite the little hermit out there, holed up in his woodside cabin, but he still visited often enough.

I had already explained the map and the false town to him, and he didn’t seem surprised that my search had taken me nowhere. When I told him about Petra’s letter (which I had _not _burned, contrary to her wishes) and what she’d said about the Order’s old temple, he’d immediately volunteered to go with me.

He’d nonchalantly mentioned that he didn’t have anything else going on and that he could do with an excuse to get out of his house, but his expression said it all: He was hoping for a new adventure.

I made my way quickly up the small steps and knocked briskly on the door. Something rubbed against my leg, and I glanced down to see a young ocelot looking up at me, purring quietly.

_Typical Lukas_. It was just like him to have managed to domesticate a wild cat.

The door opened, but to my surprise, it wasn’t Lukas who looked out. It took me a few seconds to recognize the tall, brown-haired man, and once I did, I couldn’t hold back a small glare.

Aiden. The same man who, seven years earlier, had wreaked havoc on Sky City, which included sending me falling to what he believed would be my death.   
He looked very different than when I had last seen him. His hair had gotten significantly longer, the messy brown waves gently brushing his shoulders, and his pale green eyes seemed…calmer, somehow. The largest different was that he wore a simple blue t-shirt and jeans- there was no pretentious leather jacket in sight.

Honestly, I’m not sure why I was surprised. I _knew_ he was in Beacontown. I _knew_ he and Lukas were together. Yet his appearance that morning still managed to catch me off-guard.

Several months prior (four or five before the whole Admin adventure), Lukas had decided to pay a visit to the new Sky City civilization. I’d turned down the opportunity to go with him, for really no other reason except that I’d had something else going on at the time. While he was there, he’d apparently been able to finally mend things with the Blazerods, and began exchanging letters with Aiden once he returned home.

He’d gone back there several times since, and at some point, his views towards Aiden had…_changed_, shall we say. I don’t know what actually happened and I don’t plan on asking, but ever since then, they’d been far more romantic than platonic.

Needless to say, everything about their relationship bothered me. For one, I wasn’t too keen on having Aiden back in my life, especially not as a best friend’s significant other. I didn’t care if he’d ‘changed’ or whatever; it did not alter the fact that I didn’t really want him around.   
Second, I didn’t know Lukas was interested in guys _at all_, until the day he’d told me that he and Aiden were together. It wasn’t that much of a problem, but I’d felt slightly hurt that he’d never said anything about it to me.   
Third, Aiden. Just…_Aiden_. Of all the men Lukas could’ve chosen to go out with, it just _had_ to be him?

To put it simply, I didn’t trust him, especially not with one of my best friends.

All of this flashed through my head in a matter of about two seconds. Aiden gave me a genuine, if somewhat nervous, smile and leaned against the doorframe. “Hey, Jess. Lukas’ll be right out; he’s just collecting supplies for the trip.”

“I’m almost done, I swear!” Lukas’s voice came from inside the house.

“You’d better be; I’d like to get going.” I called in reply. I was doing my best to ignore Aiden, though he didn’t seem to get the memo.

“Lukas told you I’m in the process of moving to Beacontown, right? He said he would, but…” he glanced briefly over his shoulder. “…you really never know with him.”

I had, in fact, been told over two weeks ago. If I remembered correctly, my response had been little more than a noncommittal grunt, but I chose not to say that right then.

“Yeah, I know.” I replied simply. Lukas appeared in my field of vision then, brushing gently past Aiden. He was wearing his casual armour; the dark-lensed goggles, sturdy boots, and the iron-accented black jacket over his ordinary clothes.

“Are you calling me a liar?” he asked insincerely. The brunette shook his head. “Not at all. I wouldn’t dare.” He said affectionately.

I sighed and crossed my arms. Lukas caught my gaze, and I nodded in the direction of the road, signifying that I was itching to leave.

Lukas turned away from me, to address his boyfriend again. “Alright, well, I’ll be back soon. Ah, soon-_ish_. I guess it depends on what’s there, but I should be back before dark.”

“I’ll be here.” Aiden said with a shrug, casting another slightly apprehensive look at me.

My dark expression didn’t change as I turned away and went to untie my horse. Lukas leaned up to tap a quick kiss against Aiden’s lips, murmured something to him that I couldn’t hear, then quickly followed me to where his own dark-brown steed was tethered near Inara.

I swung myself up into the saddle, paying little attention to Lukas as he did the same. The whole encounter with Aiden had put me in a rather sour mood, and I hoped Lukas would catch on that I didn’t much feel like talking.

\--

At first, he left me alone. We rode in near silence for a while, heading in the direction of the temple. The weather was slightly strange that day- a multitude of clouds covered the sun, though it didn’t seem like rain was on the horizon.

We trekked across a plains biome for a little bit, then had to jump across a small creek. We could’ve been travelling much faster if we chose to, but I didn’t really see the need.

Around forty-five minutes into the journey, Lukas sped up, now riding directly aside me. I had been slightly ahead, making it a little harder for him to force me into a conversation. He hadn’t seemed to mind earlier, but he began eyeing me with a contemplative expression.

“You seem quieter than usual.” He commented placidly.

I shrugged, looking straight ahead. “Just don’t have anything to say.”

“Really?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “You’ve normally got at least _something_ to talk about.”

He said this in a fairly cheerful way, and I shrugged again. I still didn’t look at him, though I could practically feel his blue eyes assessing my expression.

“Wait a minute. Is this about Aiden?” he asked.

“What makes you say that?” I returned defiantly.

“Well, you’re kinda making the same face you did when I told you he wanted to move to Beacontown.”

I sighed slowly. I didn’t really want to go into everything I was thinking, especially since he seemed to be in such a good mood. Plus, I didn’t want to start causing problems when we had other things to focus on. “Yeah. I’m just not really sure how comfortable I am with your whole…whatever.”

“Relationship?” Lukas supplied.

“Yeah, that. It just seems kinda weird to me, and I…guess I need some time to get used to it.” I said carefully. This was a _colossal_ understatement, but he didn’t need to know that right then.

Lukas looked at me for a moment, suspicion written all over his face. “Okay, hold on. You’re not freaked out by me being bi, are you?” he asked. I turned to give him a baffled glance.

“_What?_ No!” I exclaimed with a small laugh. “No, not at all. Hell, of all of us, you were the one most likely to turn out gay.”

He laughed as well. “What is _that_ supposed to mean?”

I shrugged yet again. “Honestly, I don’t know. It’s hard to explain. But what I’m trying to say is…I don’t wanna talk about it right now. What I think about it all doesn’t matter at the moment, and I’d rather not discuss it. Is that alright?”

“Sure. We’ve got something else to deal with.” he agreed amiably.

After that, we settled into the usual mix of easy conversation and comfortable silence. This was the first trip we’d taken together in a long time, and as it turned out, I _did_ find things I wanted to discuss. Though we still saw each other every few days, we didn’t have as much time to really talk, to feel like friends again.

It was pleasant, for lack of a better word.

The journey seemed to go much quicker once I’d calmed down, the scenery changing swiftly from spruce forest to more plains (where we stopped for a lunch break) to the beginnings of a small mountain. Well, not really _small_, but as far as mountains go. Small-ish.

Rather than needing to go over said mountain, we went around, entering a long valley. And there it stood- the temple of the Order of the Stone.

I had been there only three months before, deposited from the portal in the Underneath. I commented this to Lukas, and he replied with the observation that we didn’t seem to have a lot of good memories about the place.

We were forced to leave our horses behind as we scaled the vines that led up to the entrance to the temple. Honestly, I’m not sure why none of us have ever come out here and rebuilt the original _stairs_, but I guess we don’t exactly go there often enough for it to be a necessity.

The traps had all been long disabled, though, so there was no panicked dodging of flying arrows this time. Just eerily perfect silence, interrupted by the tapping of our boots against the stone floor.

“This is so bizarre. I haven’t been here in five…six years?” Lukas whispered.

I gave him a funny look. “Why are you whispering?” I asked in a low murmur.

“Why are _you _whispering?” he shot back.

“Because you were whispering first?” I countered uncertainly. He let out a small laugh. “Fair.”

We stepped into the large library, and Lukas shuddered violently. “Hhh. What do you call that feeling that’s like nostalgia, but not in a good way?”

“All-consuming dread!” I contributed enthusiastically. My voice sounded far too loud in the empty silence of the temple, and I slowly covered my mouth.

He shivered again. “I wonder if this place was any less creepy when it was still…y’know, _functional._”

“Who knows. Might not’ve been. You gotta remember, it _was_ built by Soren.” I replied. Lukas made a quiet dismissive noise.

I glanced around at the rows of books, feeling suddenly intimidated and a little claustrophobic. I didn’t see anything that immediately jumped out at me, and I wasn’t sure where to start looking. Would it have killed Petra to have told me where the ‘thing’ was?

Lukas seemed to sense my hesitancy. “Why don’t you check upstairs, in that open-air map room thing? I can glance through here; I’ve got a pretty good idea of how Soren organizes things.” he offered.

“Sure, thanks. Call me down if you find anything even remotely suspicious.”

I weaved through the rows of bookshelves, heading up to the second floor. It was nearly exactly how I’d remembered it, the crumbling stone brick walls and the large map that dominated one wall. Far in the distance, I could see the gates of Beacontown, now even more conspicuous because of the large tower in the center of the town (thanks, Romeo).

I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, though. I spent a few minutes examining the row of levers that activated the tracking system, then the little podium that the amulet was supposed to sit on.

Nothing.

I then looked intently at the map. It didn’t offer any immediate clues, but I wondered if there could be anything behind it. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to destroy it, though, despite the fact that it was rather old and outdated now. It was a key part of this temple, and it seemed…_wrong_ to ruin it.

Before I’d made up my mind, I heard a shout from downstairs.

“Jess? Uh…I _think_ I just found what Petra sent us here for. Jess!”

I turned and hurried quickly down the quartz stairs, hoping that Lukas really had more success than I did.


	4. Questionable Findings

** ▪Lukas’s POV ** ** ▪ **

I began searching the room even before Jess disappeared up the stairs, combing swiftly through bookshelves and glancing at already-open books lying about.

Petra wasn't known for making things easy, but she wouldn't have deliberately hidden whatever she'd found. My guess was that she'd probably left it wherever she'd found it...whatever 'it' actually was.

Luckily, the place was easy enough to navigate through. It may not have been the tidiest or more well-organized, but it wasn't a disaster.

I reached a cluttered desk at the far end of the room, and, somewhat absent-mindedly, picked up a hardcover book sitting on it. The title of the tome was 'Ad Vitam Aeturnum', and I frowned in confusion.

The words were in an old, nearly dead language that I couldn't recall the name of. Latin? No, that wasn't quite right. Something similar to that, though. Some people said it originated from the mythical land of the Aether, though that had never made sense to me.

I had never seen a complete book written in said language. Simple phrases and stuff like that were thrown around sometimes, but there were very few written works. No one was really certain of the civilization that had spoken it, or how and when it had begun to fade.

I tried to remember what I had learned of it. If I was correct, the title said something like 'to eternal life', though I couldn't be certain. I shuddered slightly, but hesitated right before I set the book down.

Could this be what Petra wanted us to find?

I paused, examining the book again and thinking.

No. Completely impossible. As far as I was aware, she didn't know anything about the lost language- it would be far too '_nerdy'_ for her. Besides, if she'd wanted Jess to see this particular tome, she could've just sent it to him with the letter.

I put the book down and glanced at the other contents of the desk. There was an empty inkwell, a few scattered sheets of blank paper, an old-looking ruffled quill, and a small book with an illustration of an Enderman on the cover. Nothing spectacularly unusual.

I turned and leaned back against the desk, scanning the room in hopes of noticing something obvious before I had to go into a full-out search.

It was then that I noticed the lever attached to the side of a bookshelf to my right. I straightened up, then walked over and cautiously pushed it upwards.

Nothing happened for a moment. Then, with a muffled thud and a slow grating sound, the wall behind the desk I'd previously been looking at slowly began separating.

I watched as unseen pistons pulled the blocks out of the way, revealing a dark, hidden room. Grabbing a torch from nearby, I carefully pushed the desk aside and stepped inside the secret room.

I was a little afraid of what I might find, leaning anxiously back as I lifted the torch and let the light fall on what had been hidden for who knows how many years.

The place was small, but even so, I didn't know where to look first.

One wall was dominated by papers and charts, all haphazardly pinned up and overlapping each other. They greatly varied in content- some had drawings, some had long paragraphs, and others had only a few words, all looking like they'd been written hastily. A few of these papers were connected by strings, lending the appearance of some kind of strange investigation. I barely glanced at them at first, but I noticed a lot of question marks.

The second wall, the one opposite the entrance, made me take a small step back. On it was painted '_scio me nihil scire'_, in tall black capital letters. The paint had dripped slightly, adding an ominous look to the already-odd words.

The last was the strangest. A very large roll of paper was attached to the wall, decorated by a complicated chart that reminded me of the branches of a tree. It was labelled by odd symbols and phrases I didn't recognize, with lists of words scribbled along the sides of the parchment. I wasn't sure what the chart was supposed to show- all the twisting lines were colossally confusing, especially since I couldn't understand the labels, which appeared to be written in some sort of code.

Finally coming to my senses, I leaned out of the hidden room and shouted, "Jess? Uh...I _think_ I just found what Petra sent us here for. Jess!"

After only a moment, he came hurrying down the stairs, looking around for me. "Yeah? What is it? Where even are you?"

"Over here." I called. "And uh...you're gonna have to just look."

His brown eyes went very wide as he stepped into the dim room. "_Whoa._ That's, er...certainly something."

Like I had, he spent a few seconds silently scanning the area, then frowned as he mouthed the words painted on the far wall. "'Scio me nil...' What the _hell?"_

"I think it means something like 'I know that I know nothing', though I'm not entirely sure." I contributed. He nodded mutely, then moved closer to the paper-covered wall.

"What on earth _is_ all of this? And who was even...?" he muttered.

"Your guess is as good as mine. It would have to be one of the old Order, though I can't say who without knowing what we're actually looking at."

"Well, it wasn't Ivor." Jess determined. "His handwriting isn't anything like this. And I highly doubt it was Magnus, though I _suppose_ it could've been Ellegaard or Gabriel."

I shook my head. "Ellegaard would've taken this stuff with her when she moved her main base to Redstonia. From what I've heard from Olivia, she's not one to just abandon a project. I don't know about Gabriel, though."

Jess shrugged. "He never seemed like the obsessive-researcher type, but I guess anything's possible. But if it's none of the others...then we're looking at a whole new level of Soren madness."

"Lovely." I commented quietly. It had been a _long_ time since we'd heard anything about the elusive liar, at least two years. He'd essentially disappeared, with no real evidence that he was even still alive.

Jess spared a glance at the large chart, then dismissively said, "Whoever it was, they sure didn't want anyone else to figure out what they were up to. I can't make heads or tails of that thing."

He returned his attention to the various sheafs of parchment, squinting in the low light. He lifted his head, then pointed to a paper pinned just above eye level (well, it was only slightly above my eye level, though quite a bit beyond his).

It was a map of Beacontown, though not one that was anywhere near recent. Or accurate, for that matter.

The irregularities were subtle, but there were there. A few buildings in the wrong place. A couple things appearing to be the wrong colours. An alley or two that didn't really exist.

"That's the second weird map I've found this week. This is getting suspicious." Jess observed, scowling darkly.

"You think they're connected?" I asked.

The glower deepened. "I don't really know what to think, honestly."

My eyes roved over the assortment of papers, trying to find some connection between the symbols and map fragments and scattered words and occasional rough drawings. Even the ones that were linked by string still didn't seem to match up, as though whoever had set this up had been thinking on an entirely different level than we were on.

But was that level genius, or lunacy?

A document partially covered by a small note caught my attention. I removed the smaller paper, not even reading it, and stared at the list of words in front of me. I nudged Jess, gesturing silently to what I'd just found.

The list was as follows:

** _Constant_ ** _\- things that are consistent in multiple timelines (object, person, or event)_

** _Deviation_ ** _\- an event that happened in one timeline but didn't in another_

** _Variable_ ** _\- an object or person that is in one timeline but not in another_

** _Primum Movens [Primes_ ** _]- the people that create deviations and change variables; the ones who 'drive' the timelines_

Over the top of the 'Primes' bit was a word written in large, hurried-looking red letters and underlined strongly.

_ Jess. _

I heard a sharp intake of breath from beside me, and my friend took a step back. Jess was wide-eyed again, though this time he looked less mildly startled and more like a cornered animal.

"What...?" he breathed.

I wholeheartedly agreed. What did this mean, _timelines?_ And how was Jess involved in...whatever they were?

He carefully reached up, gently touching where his name was written as though he hoped it would change. Shooting a cagey glance at the strange diagram on the opposite wall, Jess edged slowly back, rubbing his arms and looking uncomfortable.

"I...I need to get out of here." he said in a low voice. "This is too...I need to get out of here."

With that, he turned and practically ran from the room, and probably all the way out the library too. I reached out and grabbed the paper that had sent him into panic mode, quickly glancing through the rest of the papers to see if any of the others looked coherent or important enough to take with us.

I hurried after Jess, who had indeed fled the temple. He was standing just outside the magnificent ruin, looking out at the valley.

Nudging his shoulder, I asked, "Hey, are you alright?"

He made a motion with his shoulders that was part shrug, part shudder. "Yeah. That whole deal was just...too much for me. It just feels super creepy, and I don't understand any of it."

"Me neither. But I'm sure we'll be able to piece it all together eventually."

He turned his head to make eye contact with me, his expression gravely serious. "Oh, you bet I will. Something _weird _is going on, Lukas. And I may not be completely sure what yet, but I'll be damned if I can't figure it out."


	5. Details and Disagreements

I was still very on edge when we returned to our horses and started to make our way home. I wanted to be rid of all the ominous thoughts that hidden room had brought forth, though I couldn’t seem to be.

Seeing my name penned on that paper had sent an indescribable feeling washing over me. It felt like I’d been punched in the gut, and all my air was replaced by ice. Like the room was far, far too small, and then too immeasurably large at the same time.

I could tell I’d just learned something crucial, but I didn’t yet know what it meant.

Lukas had given me the paper he’d taken from the room, though I wasn’t sure how much good it would do. No matter how many times I reread the words, they didn’t become any less confusing.

_Timelines._

What in the Overworld could that possibly mean? I knew what a timeline _usually_ was, but this seemed to be implying something very different.

Not to mention the ‘Primum Movens’ thing. I’d been so freaked out by seeing my name there that it wasn’t until later that I put the pieces together. It was in plural, so there was no way I was the only one of these ‘Primes’.

Whatever that meant.

Lukas and I were both significantly quieter than we had been on the way there. That was understandable, though, since we now had something new weighing on our minds. For the most part, our conversation was limited to one of us pointing out or asking something, and the other replying in a few words.

Now, I would’ve been fine if this pattern had continued the whole way back, but as we were almost in the last stretch of the journey, Lukas just _had_ to complicate things.

“So, ah…I _know_ you said you didn’t want to talk about it, but I think this probably oughtta be addressed.”

“Yeah?” I asked, slightly testily.

He shot me a look that was half concerned, half nervous. “You seem really…upset, by me being with Aiden, and I just…I’d like to know why.”

I sighed, shifting my position in the saddle. “Do we _really_ have to be talking about this right now?”

“Yes. Whatever your problem is, this whole thing isn’t just gonna disappear because you don’t wanna discuss it.”

I could tell he was feeling pretty defensive about this, which wasn’t a good sign. Him being aggressive usually led to me being aggressive, which turned into both of us getting mad.

Fine. He wanted to open this can of worms, so be it.

I hadn’t replied, so Lukas continued with a small sigh. “Look, I can tell you don’t like him. That’s...I mean, that’s fine, it’s your opinion. I just don’t know why.”

I snorted. “Oh, yeah. It’s not like he’s ever done anything wildly horrible to me.”

Lukas shot me a stern look. “Okay, really? You don’t think this might be a _little_ long to hold a grudge?”

“I don’t know, Lukas. How long do you normally hold grudges against people who’ve tried to murder you?”

The severe expression lowered into something more resembling a glare. “As long as _necessary_. He is not the same person who caused all that trouble, alright? I swear it.”

“Yeah, keep saying that.” I snarked. “Where’s your fuckin’ _proof_, Lukas?”

The blond man turned to look ahead again, still scowling. “He’s my boyfriend, and I love him.” he said through gritted teeth.

“I said proof. Give me some logic, not emotions.”

“Okay, how ‘bout this? It’s been seven _fucking_ years, and people have the goddamn ability to change?” he retorted.

My only response was another disdainful huff. I knew I was edging into jerk territory, but I was a little too pissed-off to care too deeply. Lukas was misinterpreting what I meant. Yes, Aiden had caused a lot of trouble for Sky City, but that wasn’t it. Even before that, he’d always been a problem. I’d _never_ seen him do anything even remotely nice, and this change made me deeply suspicious. I was afraid that Lukas was letting his heart get in the way of his common sense, but I didn’t know how to say it.

We went back to travelling in silence, at least for a few minutes. Until I finally said, “I don’t think you really love Aiden.”

“What the hell do you- why do you think you know about this?” he stammered, voice radiating anger.

“I’m not claiming to know anything; I’m just saying that he’s a dick. And you _know_ he’s a dick, he’s always been one. So sure, I don’t know shit about whatever weird relationship you two have now, but I know that he spent _years_ reveling in the fact that he is the dickiest person I have ever-”

“That’s not a word. Also, please stop saying ‘dick’.”

“I think you’re missing my point.”

“And I think that if I _am_ missing it, that’s because it’s apparently getting buried in profanity.”

“Fucking _god_, Lukas, it’s because I can’t even _think_ about your dick-of-a new boyfriend without getting mad. My point is, until I get an _actual reason_ to believe that he’s not here to somehow fuck things up again, I don’t wanna deal with him! Or any aspect of your convoluted fucking love life, for that matter!”

“You are practically impossible to talk to, you know that?”

“I just don’t trust him, and I’m not sure why you do. He tried to kill you too, remember?”

Lukas’s expression turned to something sadder, a little more desperate. “Seven _years_ ago, Jess. I’m telling you, he’s changed so much. What happened to your policy of giving people second chances? I mean, seriously. You’ll trust _Romeo_, but not Aiden?”

I jabbed a finger at him. “I am _not_ trusting Romeo. Did you notice how soon I sent him down to the Underneath? No. I wouldn’t trust that man to hold an iron ingot. And I don’t trust Aiden not to do something to you.”

“_Do something_ to me. Like what?” Lukas scoffed.

“Oh, I dunno. Mess with your emotions and break your heart?” I snapped back. “You don’t really need that to happen _again_, do you?”

Lukas’s entire body went visibly rigid, and he returned to looking directly forward, his mouth set in a firm line. I knew full well that I’d just crossed a barrier, but at the moment I didn’t really care.

What made that particular blow so underhanded was that I didn’t fully know what I even was talking about.   
All I knew was, something had happened between Lukas and Petra. I wasn’t sure if they were actually dating or not, but a few months before, both of them had _entirely_ freaked out, at exactly the same time.

That was when Petra had started staying away from Beacontown more, and probably when she got mixed up with Stella and Champion City. That was when Lukas had _really_ become a hermit, spending nearly all his time in his little house by the woods.   
That was when they’d both started finding excuses not to be around the other.

There’d been some kind of falling-out, though neither of them would tell me anything about what had happened. Actually, they both had gone to great lengths to deny that _anything_ was amiss, which only made it that much more obvious.

About a week or so after that, Lukas had announced his relationship with Aiden, which made me even _more_ suspicious about…well, everything. Not only did he appear to be in a rebound relationship, but that relationship was with someone who had been beyond notorious for causing trouble.

“Quite frankly, I don’t think you’re really qualified to have an opinion on this.” Lukas contributed testily.

I let out a slightly malicious laugh. “Since when does being aromantic impact my ability to tell when someone’s bad news? If either of us were biased, I’m pretty sure it’d be _you._ You’re the one screwing him, after all.”

He turned red, then venomously hissed, “You know what? Fuck. You. You don’t even know how hypocritical you sound, calling _Aiden _out for being a jerk.”

He adjusted his grip on the reigns. “Have fun trying to figure out your little timeline mystery, ‘cause you’re not getting any help from me.”

With that, Lukas dug his heels into his horse’s sides, urging her into a trot, then a gallop. I watched him ride off, still fuming.

After he was out of view, I let out an aggrieved sigh. I wasn’t even sure how that argument had escalated so fast, but I knew it would probably be a few days before he was willing to speak to me again. Unfortunate timing, considering what we’d just found, but our friendship had survived worse.

I tried to let go of my frustration as I rode back towards Beacontown, but the fight just kept coming back to me. I knew I’d gone too far, multiple times. I didn’t know what had been up with me recently- I’d been too irritable and argumentative for anyone’s good.

Maybe it’s loneliness, I considered. Or stagnation. You’ve been in the same place for too long, doing the same things day after day, and it’s getting to you.

But I knew that couldn’t be it. I’d been leader of Beacontown for years now, and this new antipathy had only started in the past few weeks. I loved my town, and I loved doing everything required of my leader position. I didn’t want to abandon it, so that couldn’t be the source of whatever was wrong with me.

Plus, I wasn’t alone. I had Radar and Lukas by my side (most of the time), and the friendly support of many Beacontown citizens. Most of the time, I was entirely content.

My thoughts wandered dully as I approached the gates of home. I hadn’t been _that_ far away when Lukas had left, but the very last leg of the journey had felt longer without him. Like the day before, I put Inara in her stall and returned to the Order headquarters, though that day, Radar was nowhere to be found.

This wasn’t entirely unusual. As my Co-Hero in Residence, he ended up taking care of almost as much stuff as I did, especially when I left town.

I went into my office and flopped down at my desk. I retrieved the paper from my inventory and was about to set it down when I suddenly got the feeling that there was something wrong.

I looked around, frowning. Nothing seemed immediately out of place, but…_something_ about the room was suddenly setting off my something-is-weird-here instincts.

Still a little suspicious, I placed the parchment on my desk and examined it again.

Constants. Variables. Deviations. Primes. All the talk about _timelines_. My name, scrawled in bold red ink.

Things that all had to be clues, pointing to some big answer that I couldn’t yet see.

The door suddenly slammed open, and I jumped. Radar leaned inside, grinning when he saw me.

“Jess! You’re back.”

I offered him a small smile in return. “Yep. Come on, you know I wouldn’t just disappear.”

He shrugged, then seemed to remember something. “Where’s Lukas? Did he already go home?”

I sighed. “Something like that.”

Radar gave me a suspicious look, and I caved. He’d gotten uncannily good at interpreting my more evasive answers. “We kinda got into a fight, alright? On the way back, he just…brought up something he shouldn’t’ve, and everything went downhill from there.” I summarized halfheartedly.

“Oh. That’s, uh…that’s unfortunate. Well, did you find anything, at least?”

“Uh…yes, actually.” I did my best to describe the contents of the hidden room, the treelike chart, painted words, and the way the dozens of mismatched papers had been pinned to the wall.

“I only saw one paper that made even a little bit of sense, so I brought it back.” I finished, handing the parchment to him. His dark green eyes widened as he read over the list of words, but I hardly noticed. I’d suddenly just realized what had seemed off to me when I’d first entered the room.

“Hey, Radar, you didn’t happen to move anything on my desk, did you?” I asked casually.

He looked up at me, his mind obviously still processing the paper I’d given him, and shook his head. “Nope. Why?”

Why? Because the map- the same map with the false town that I’d searched for yesterday -was gone, just as completely as if it had never been there at all.


	6. Necessary Forgiveness

The next week and a half passed primarily without incident.

I did not find the map. Neither Radar or I had moved it, and there was no evidence of it being stolen. It was as if it had simply vanished.

I also did not magically acquire any knowledge on the topic of the so-called timelines or Primes. I had a few theories, sure, but nothing that really made 100% sense.

My life in Beacontown went on as always; comfortable but repetitive. I can’t say it was _uneventful_\- because it wasn’t -but there were no world-shaking disasters.

Radar seemed glad that I hadn’t discovered anything worth acting on, though he wouldn’t admit it aloud. Although it had been a good three months since the whole Admin mess, I could tell he wanted to do all he could to avoid anything that even vaguely resembled an adventure.

Lukas was nowhere to be found. I’ll admit that I made no effort to actively seek him out, but he didn’t visit Beacontown like he usually did. He had a right to avoid me, and I knew that. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help feeling slightly bitter that he was choosing to hold a grudge.

I figured that he was either hard at work on one of his books or spending time with his precious boyfriend. However, this was soon proved wrong.

The day in question was a Wednesday, that dull, in-the-middle day that just _begs_ for something to go wrong. I’d been on my way to the far side of town, when I passed by Stacy and Stampy’s dessert shop and had to notice Aiden standing out front, talking to Stacy.

I couldn’t guess what they were talking about, but they were both smiling. So at least Aiden was attempting to forge new friendships instead of keeping up the bitter personality I’d always known. Maybe Lukas had a point, and he _had_ changed- but that didn’t mean I felt the need to interact with him any more than necessary.

I hoped they wouldn’t notice me as I passed, but no such luck. Stacy waved in her usual friendly manner, and I sent a nod of acknowledgment in her direction. Unfortunately, Aiden had seen.

He said a quick goodbye to the YouTuber woman and hurried after me. “Hey, Jess! Hold up!”

I steeled myself and turned around, trying not to sink into a glare this time. “Yeah?”

“Do you know if Lukas is anywhere in town? I haven’t seen him for a few days, and I was wondering if he was with you.” He asked.

I froze, taken completely by surprise. “_What_…? N-no, I haven’t talked to him in more than a week.”

Aiden sighed aggrievedly. “Dammit.”

“Is he not at home?” I asked.

He shrugged, looking slightly guilty. “I’m not sure. He was there when I went by a few days ago, but he said he was busy with something and needed to be left alone. I kinda figured he was doing something for you, but I wasn’t sure.”   
He paused. “Actually, now that I think about it, that was more wishful thinking than an actual guess.”

I shook my head. “We’re…not completely on speaking terms right now.” I admitted. “I have no idea where he is or what he might be up to.”

“Well…thanks anyways.” Aiden said with a slightly tense smile.

We both went our separate ways, though I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t spent the rest of the day concerned by Lukas’s sudden disappearance.

\---

Late that afternoon, nearly the same situation happened in complete reverse. I was leaving the mines near the front of town, and almost walked straight by someone who’d been casually standing near the entrance, clearly waiting for me. I’d been thinking about something else at the time, entirely ignoring my surroundings as I do when I get focused.

I’d barely passed them when they cleared their throat significantly, catching my attention. I whirled around, internally cringing as I met the serious eyes of the blond man standing behind me.

“Lukas! You’re, uh…you startled me.” I stammered. “Um, Aiden was looking for you. Where’ve you _been_ this week?”

He didn’t immediately reply to that, just shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and stared at the ground. “Ah…yeah, I’ll get to that. Look, we…we need to talk.”

I crossed my arms nonchalantly, trying to keep my body relaxed so as not to seem defensive. “Yeah, probably.”

“Not…not _just_ for the most obvious reason. There’s, uh…a _thing_ came up, and I think you oughtta…it’s all…” He sighed, lifting a hand to rub his forehead.

_Oh, great. What happened now? _I thought. Aloud, I asked, “So, were it not for this new whatever, you’d continue ignoring me?”

He lifted his head. “Yeah, probably.” he said, mimicking what I’d just said to him. I gave him a ‘_really’_ look, and he shrugged. “I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. I’m sorry that I pushed you, alright? I should’ve just…left the whole thing alone, and I know that.”

I could tell there was more on his mind, but he didn’t say anything else. This was no surprise- we usually tried to get the apologies out of the way quickly and sort through details once we were on better terms.

“It’s not your fault. I kinda freaked out.” I replied. _I mean, I still stand by quite a bit of what I said, but…_ “I overreacted.”

He nodded once. “Alright. Good. So…with _that_ out of the way…I need your help.”

This was more familiar territory. We’d only had a few fights like that before, that involved one of us storming off and not speaking to the other for an indeterminant amount of time, but so far they'd always been resolved by some new problem arising.

“What happened?” I asked calmly. He shuffled his feet, still with his hands in his pockets.

“It’s kind of a long story, but I’ll try to make it brief. So, a few nights ago- about four or five, I’ve kinda lost track -I was late returning home from mining when I heard what sounded like fighting. I he-”

“Argument-fighting or swordfighting?” I interrupted.

Lukas shook his head. “Swordfighting, I guess. I’m getting there. I headed towards the noise, and found an unfamiliar woman trying to fight off like, six zombies. She only had an iron sword, and she was cornered, so naturally I ran to help. Between both of us, we manage to kill them all, and that’s when I noticed that she’s hurt. Like, _really_ hurt. _Way_ more injured than just mob wounds. Before I could ask what happened, she just smiles at me and says, ‘Thanks, Lukas’.”

He made a dramatic gesture with his hands. “I had _never seen her before_, and she knew me by name. At first I thought she might’ve just recognized me from my books, but it was dark, and I wasn’t wearing my Order armour. And she not only identified me, she acted like she _knew me_. It was so weird.”

“Huh.” I commented quietly. Lukas didn’t act like he’d heard me, running a hand through his hair. “Another thing is that even though I’m _sure_ I’ve never seen her before, she seems…vaguely familiar, in a way I don’t know how to describe. It’s the strangest thing.”

I could tell he was about to get completely sidetracked. “So, she was injured. What happened?” I prompted.

“Right.” he said with a nod. “Her knowing my name distracted me for a moment, and I didn’t have time to ask about her injuries. She started to ask which way to Beacontown, but suddenly started swaying on her feet and clutching her head. It seemed like she was in a lot of pain, though all she said was that she needed to get to Beacontown.”

He paused briefly for breath, then continued. “She was acting really dizzy; she could hardly walk. I figured it’d be better to take her to my house first, since I have first-aid stuff and could at the very least give her a Potion of Healing before pointing her towards town. But we’d only gone a little way before she _collapsed_. Like, dead unconscious. I managed to get her home, and bandaged the wounds I could see, but something was obviously really wrong.   
Since then, she only woke up once, and not really all the way. She asked for water, but was unconscious again before I’d gotten it. Her injuries mostly healed after the first day or so, but she was still practically comatose.”

I stayed silent for a moment more, processing this. “If this happened that long ago, why are you only telling me now? What prompted you to finally share this information?” I asked, more than a little sarcastically.

“Well…” Lukas hesitated, reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck. He was still looking at the ground as he said, “She finally woke up, about an hour ago…and the first thing she did was ask to talk to you.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Me?”

“Uh…not _exactly_ you, but she, um…” he finally stopped fidgeting, lifting his eyes to mine. “She said she needed to speak with the Prime.”

\------

The front door to Lukas’s house creaked slightly as he shut it behind us. He gestured for me to follow him into the room that I know is usually reserved for crafting and resource storage.

A bed had been placed in the middle of the room, and on it sat an unfamiliar young woman. She had pale brown skin, just slightly lighter than mine, and short, messy dark-brown hair. She wore a light purple top under tan overalls and had a strange leather strap across her chest. The hair in front of her left ear was pulled into a small braid, crisscrossed with a yellow dyed streak.

She’d been drawing in a spiral-bound sketchbook, but looked up as I stepped into the room.

“Oh, good.” she commented quietly.

Like Lukas had said, I got the strange feeling that I knew her, despite the fact that nothing about her sparked a distinct memory. I hesitantly extended a hand to her.

“Hi. Um…I’m Jess.”

“The Prime.” She checked, though something in her confident tone made it sound like she already knew. I nodded.

She looked me over with bright, clever brown eyes, then smiled widely and shook my hand. “Hi. My name’s Julia, and I’m you from another dimension.”


	7. Claims of the Most Impossible

“I’m you from another dimension.”

She then looked over to address Lukas, as though she hadn’t just said something completely world-shattering.

“I can’t tell you how glad I am to have so quickly found the Lukas of this dimension.” Julia remarked. “For the record, you’re even more handsome than my Lukas, and he’s quite the stud. Not that I take much notice of guys.” she added, somewhat dismissively.

My mind was still spinning around her first claim. “I’m sorry, _what_? You’re _me_? From WHAT dimension?”

She shifted her position, making a face. “As far as I know, they don’t have real _titles_, which is kinda dumb since, _obviously_ we need to tell which one’s which. For now let’s just call it…Julia’s dimension. Yes.”

“Hold on.” Lukas interjected. “Do you mean _world_? Are you from somewhere else in the Portal Network?”

Julia shook her head. “Nope. _Dimension_. Trust me, I’ve already dealt with that distinction once.”

“I’ve never heard of any other dimensions, other than the Nether or the End.” I said carefully. She nodded appraisingly in my direction. “Yeah, there’s those, but they’re a different kind of ‘dimension’. The kind I mean is…a little more complicated.”

“_How_ complicated?” Lukas asked. “And why didn’t you tell me this when I first found you?”

She scrunched up her nose like she’d smelled something strange. “How was I _supposed_ to tell you? This kinda thing is supposed to have a big dramatic reveal, not just a ‘hey by the way I’m from another dimension, haha nice to meet you’. Plus, I didn’t have a lotta time.”

“Well, you have all the time in the world now. Explain, please.” I told her pointedly.

“Actually, we _don’t_ have ‘all the time in the world’. But, sure.” She replied with a shrug. “Quick warning, though. You’re about to get a pretty huge infodump, and all this stuff is pretty confusing.”

Julia inhaled deeply, briefly closing her eyes like she was sorting out her thoughts.

“There is not just one world like this. There’s several. And when I say, a world _like this_, I don’t mean it’s just similar. I mean they’re _exactly the same_. There’re duplicates of this world- but not in the Portal Network. Out…elsewhere. So they’re like the Nether and End in the way that they don’t physically exist for you until you travel to them. But they’re there, and travel between them is possible if you know what you’re doing.”

“How ‘_exactly’_ are they?” Lukas asked. He sounded highly skeptical and a little confused. “The exact same geography?”

Julia pointed at him. “Yes, but that’s not all. The same towns. The same people. The same _events_, at least for the most part.” She then waved her hands dramatically. “The _same things_ have happened in all of these alternate dimensions! You’re the Wither Slayer, right? The hero who defeated the Wither Storm, and revealed the original Order’s lies? Well, _so am I!_ In my dimension, _I’m_ the one who liberated Sky City, and survived the White Pumpkin mansion! _I_ was the undo-er of the Old Builder’s Games, and the defeater of the Admin! I’m _you_.”

I held up a hand to stop her. “Wait, wait. Hold on. I can get behind multiple dimensions. Honestly, that doesn’t sound _too_ far beyond all the other stuff I’ve dealt with. What I want evidence of is that you’re actually, y’know…_me_. If you’ve really been through the same experiences as I have, you should be able to prove it.”

She opened her mouth, then shut it again, looking cornered. I crossed my arms. “All the stuff you’ve said so far is common knowledge. For all I know, you could be trying to lead me into some insane trap.”

Julia looked down at the floor and cursed quietly. “You’re right, goddamnit. How do I…?”

She straightened her posture, folding her hands in her lap. “Ah, I used to hang out in a treehouse with my best friends, Axel and Olivia. We won the EnderCon building competition the same year the Witherstorm was created, with an Enderman statue and a fireworks dispenser.”

I shook my head. “That’s not some kind of secret; anyone who knew us before we were heroes could tell you that. And it was a _zombie_ statue.”

“_Really_? Damn deviations.” She muttered. “Okay, how ‘bout this? I had to travel all the way to the Far Lands to make the sword I used to defeat the Witherstorm.”

“Still not confidential information.”

Julia cursed again. “Um… the Eversource was actually a cute lil chicken, and her name was Benedict. The Founder was a woman called Isa, who was kind of a dictator even if she wasn’t trying to be.”

Lukas was the one who argued with that. “I’ve published stories about our Portal Network adventures, especially what happened on Sky City.”

“Right, yeah. Ivor’s in love with an Old Builder woman named Harper, who built a machine that took over a whole world?” she tried.

I snorted. “Come on, anyone who’s ever met Ivor would know that.”

She sighed. “Yeah, you’re not wrong about that one. Uh…when Romeo took his gauntlet off me in his ice fortress place, it got stuck on Jack instead?”

“Yeah, and he’s spent the last three months yammering about all the torture he went through because of it.” Lukas added. Julia reached up and yanked gently on her braid, looking frustrated.

“Um…my girlfriend, Stella, is the leader of Champion City?” she said in a hesitant voice.

I lifted my head slowly, sending a significant glance to Lukas. “Aahh. So _that’s_ how you know all this stuff.”   
I was kinda surprised that Stella would have a _girlfriend_, but it would be just like her to go out of her way to know obscure things about me.

Julia sighed. “Yeahhh I kinda figured that one wouldn’t work. Why is it that every time I need to remember an important detail, I can’t think of _shit?_” she muttered.

I relaxed my stance slightly. “Look, I’m not saying that I won’t believe you no matter what. I just want some proof.” I said, fighting the earlier hostility out of my voice.

She nodded, looking miserable. “I know, and I’d probably do the exact same thing in your position. I’m just…I’m not sure how to make you believe me.”

An idea suddenly struck me. “Alright. If you’re _really_ me, then riddle me this. Which would you rather fight: a hundred chicken-sized zombies, or ten zombie-sized chickens?”

Her face broke into a broad grin, and she said in a slightly singsong voice, “I’d have to go with the giant chickens. Not because I want to or I think it’d be easy, but because they would be an abomination.”

I laughed in astonishment, and slowly nodded.

Word for word what I said to Olivia, more than seven years ago.

She raised an eyebrow, looking hopefully at me. “So, do I pass the test? Are you more willing to listen to my fascinating explanation?”

“Sure.” I was still a little suspicious about this whole dimension business, but I wanted to know more. Just because I hadn’t fully understood it yet didn’t mean it was entirely impossible.

“Anyways.” Julia said. “The same things happening in the different dimensions. Yada yada.”

“Uh, _not_ ‘yada yada’.” Lukas cut in. “How can there possibly be different versions of _everything_ in this world? Why have we never heard about this before?”

“Hold on. I’m not doing a good enough job of explaining this.” Julia grabbed her sketchbook and pencil from where she’d set them and flipped to a blank page. She drew two long squiggly lines side-by-side, then lifted the sketchbook and tapped her finger against the left line. “You’re thinking about this in three dimensions. And that’s not your fault- that’s about as far as human comprehension goes. But anyhow, our worlds are parallel, so they’re not meant to intersect. That’s why you’ve never found out about this before.”

_Then why are we finding out about it now?_ I wondered, but didn’t have time to ask before Julia continued speaking.

“Since we can only think about this in three dimensions, lemme see if I can rephrase this a bit. So, you know how the Portal Network works, right. The worlds that the portals lead to aren’t _literally_ right behind the frames. Like, if you dug through the wall of the portal hall, you wouldn’t suddenly be in a different world. The portals take you elsewhere in the universe.”

She dropped the sketchpad and lifted her hands again, as though finger-painting a vision in the air. “Imagine a tall tower with multiple layers. Huge, massive layers, with giant cracks running through them, separating them into sections. When you’re on one of said layers, you can’t just walk from one end to the other because of the gaps. But _portals_ can take you across those gaps- you’re still on the same layer, just a different part of it. Following so far?”

Lukas and I both gave quick affirmatives, and Julia kept going. “Going to a whole different layer is something else entirely. You have no way to know those exist, since in this analogy they exist directly above and below you and you can’t just _see_ them. Those layers are like our different dimensions. They’re all exactly the same, just in different places. That’s…about as good as I can really say it.”

“Okay, so, duplicate dimensions. I _think_ I can wrap my head around that. But how can the same _events_ happen?” Lukas pressed.

Julia nodded. “Because all the constants line up. All the same people exist in each dimension, all with the same personalities and motives and histories. So things play out the same, or nearly the same way, even with little differences here and there.”

“Right, okay. That bit makes sense, but I’m still a little stuck on the fact that you’re _me_. How is that even…?” I asked.

“Well, I’m not _exactly_ you. But we’re in the same role.” She admitted with a sigh. “We’re the ones who have made the biggest impact on our respective worlds. The Wither Slayer, the Hero in Residence, whatever. We’re the ones who ‘drive’ the timelines, the-”

“The Primum Movens.” I interrupted. She grinned, looking pleased and a little surprised. “Exactly!”

Lukas looked at me. “Holy shit, is _that_ what all that mad investigation was about?”

“I guess so.” I retrieved the paper from my inventory and handed it to Julia. “Does this match up with your whole dimension thing?”

“It’s not exactly _my_ ‘whole dimension thing’, but…yes.” she said, taking the paper and glancing at the words on it. “Huh. Where’d this come from?”

“Long story short, the old Order’s temple.” Lukas replied. “There was a weird old hidden room, full of bizarre investigation-type stuff, and that was one of the things in there.”

“_Huh_.” She repeated. “That’s downright spooky.”

“So is…‘timeline’ just another word for dimension?” I asked. Julia hesitated.

“…Yes. Though I’m not one-hundred-percent sure why. I think it has something to do with, uh…dammit, what was it? The fact that all the events of the dimensions have played out over the same period of time. Instead of, like, my whole Wither adventure taking place fifty years after you’d already defeated the Admin. To be honest, though, I mainly call them ‘timelines’ just because I think it sounds cooler.” she admitted, handing the paper back to me.

I looked down at the parchment again. The list of words written on it made a lot more sense coupled with the revelation of _multiple dimensions_, despite how obviously mind-blowing that may be.

Lukas was rubbing his forehead like I had earlier. “Oh-kay. This has been…quite the brain-bender.” He muttered. Julia let out a small snort that seemed to convey ‘it gets worse’, though she didn’t say anything.

“What does this whole ‘deviation’ thing mean?” I asked. “Didn’t you just say all the dimensions were exactly the same?”

She gave me a grim little smile. “_Almost_. They’re _almost_ exactly the same. There are some differences, and that’s where things get bad.”

Motioning again with her hands as she spoke, Julia continued with her explanation. “As far as I know, all of the most major things in our timelines are the same. But there’s things that don’t match up. For starters, obviously, the gender difference between you and I. Also, my Lukas isn’t still in Beacontown: he left with Petra when she decided to go ‘find herself’ exploring the world. Those are the deviations or variables, the anomalies and changes. And…they’re why I’m here.

“There’s been something…going on, with the timelines. I haven’t known about them very long, but the reason this whole thing was brought to my attention is because there’s…_something_ interfering with the dimensions.”

A dark sense of foreboding washed over me, and I shivered, as though a pair of cold claws had sunk suddenly into my shoulders. “What kind of something? And how is it _interfering?”_

Julia gave me a helpless sort of look. “I don’t know. It wasn’t me who found out all this stuff, I’m just repeating what I was told. The balance of the timelines has been upset somehow. In the last year or so, the deviations and variables have gotten worse- there’s more of them, and they’re bigger differences. It’s throwing things off, and making the should-be-parallel dimensions start to…overlap, I guess.”

Lukas abruptly turned to give me a wide-eyed look. “That map!” he exclaimed. “The one with the paper town! Could that have been an irregularity?”

I gasped. “It had to’ve been. Oh my god, it finally makes sense.”

“What?” Julia asked, giving us a quizzical look.

“Long story short, this map suddenly appeared on my desk a couple weeks ago, and it was completely accurate except for this town in the middle of nowhere that didn’t actually exist. _Everything_ else on it was right, except that one little town. Then, a few days after it showed up, it disappeared again, and I haven’t found it since.”

Lukas gave me a suspicious side-eyed look. “You didn’t tell me it disappeared.”

I bobbed my head towards him in acknowledgment. “You were kinda not talking to me when I found out.”

“Oh.” he muttered softly.

Julia spoke up again. “Well, then it was from one of the other dimensions. I’ve had something…rather _important_ to me completely vanish, and I’m pretty sure it crossed over. That’s one of the side effects of the timelines being disrupted, and it can be worse than it first seems. I don’t know all the things that could happen when the disruptions get worse, only that they’re nothing good. Hence, why I’m in _this_ timeline instead of my own.”

“Why _are_ you in my timeline? You weren’t accidentally sent over, were you?” I asked.

She shook her head quickly. “No, not at all. I came on purpose. Because, well…this mess isn’t going to fix itself. And I don’t really have anyone else to turn to at the moment.”

I crossed my arms lightly. “You want me to help you fix the timelines.” I said noncommittally.

Julia’s expression shifted into something guilty and sad. “Yeah, I know how it sounds. I _know_ you don’t trust me yet, and I _know_ you’re still dealing with…all this information. I know you’ve probably got other things going on, things that have got to be more urgent than jumping into an insane new quest with some bizarre woman who doesn’t understand half of what she’s trying to explain.” she said with a dramatic wave of her right hand. “But…this is important. Hell, even I’m not sure _how_ important it’s going to be, but I know that it is. And there’s no one I can think of who can and _will_ help, so even this is kind of a last-ditch effort.”

She sighed and shook her head. “I’m not _expecting_ you to come along.” She added. “You don’t have to; it’s not your fight unless you decide it is. I’m hoping for help, of course, but it’s entirely your call to make.

I carefully studied her expression, and she looked back at me with serious brown eyes. She was right- this was a _lot_ to take in at once. But that’s just how stuff happens sometimes; you’re launched into things with no explanation at all. I actually consider myself very lucky that I _did_ have a chance to learn some stuff beforehand that time.

I still wasn’t sure how much I believed her. I understood most of it, yes, but I didn’t know how much to _accept_. I didn’t know if she really was a variation of me or not. I didn’t know if she really was from another dimension. I didn’t know if there really was something wrong with said dimension.

But what I did know was that, in front of me right then, was a fellow person asking for help, not to mention offering a chance at a new adventure.

And when had I ever been able to turn down either of those?

“Jess?” Lukas asked, raising a questioning eyebrow at me. “Whatever you decide, you know I’m all for it. What’s your call?”

I hesitated for another moment more, weighing my options. The other two were still both looking at me with apprehensive eyes.

I let a small smile escape as I said, “You know what? Why not. This may be some seriously new territory for me, but I’m game.”

Julia gave me a delighted, hopeful look. “You’ll help me fix the timelines?”

I grinned. “I’ll help you fix the timelines.”


	8. Oddities

Julia let out a relieved breath, getting up from her cross-legged position on the bed. “Thank god. I hoped you would, but I was really _really_ worried that I’d do a shit job of explaining everything and scare you away.”

“It takes more than alternate dimensions to frighten me.” I told her. She replied with another one of those devil-may-care smiles. “Same here. Which is exactly why I went looking for you.”

As usual, Lukas stepped in to be our voice of reason. “Ah, how _do_ we fix these timelines, anyways?”

I could tell from his tone that he was still fairly skeptical about the whole thing. I couldn’t exactly blame him.

Julia nodded. “Right. Unfortunately, to properly tell you that, we’re gonna need someone else. And even more unfortunately, that someone else isn’t exactly in this dimension.” She hesitated for a moment. “Or…maybe he is. Have you gotten any strange messages from Ivor recently?”

“No. He’s off searching for the rest of the original Order, and I haven’t heard from him.” I replied with a shake of my head.

“Another deviation.” Julia muttered crossly. “Well, my Ivor started out looking for his friends, but someone or something distracted him. I’m not sure exactly how, but he discovered the timelines and the whole deviation problem. He told me all the stuff I just explained to you, with emphasis on the deviations and the fact that they needed to be fixed, but decided soon after that he was going to continue his research in his Far Lands lab. I didn’t have a chance to go there to find out more, which in hindsight, was probably a pretty bad idea considering where I am now.”

“So…” Lukas started. “In order to fix the deviations, we have to first figure out _how_. And to do that, we need to find Ivor, who is in the Far Lands. And not just the Far Lands, but the Far Lands of a different dimension.”

Julia gave another enthusiastic nod. “Yep! Sounds like a real adventure, right?”

Lukas furrowed his brows, looking prepared to disagree, but I interrupted. “How do we get to your timeline? You know how, right?”

“Yes!” she assured me, then paused. “Actually, no. But I know how to find out. I bet that room you described in the Order’s temple can yield a lot more information if you know what you’re looking for.”

She tried to take a small step forward but stumbled and almost collapsed. Lukas quickly steadied her.

“Careful! You’re probably still weak, after being out for so long.” he cautioned. Julia regained her balance, touching her forehead with a brown-skinned hand.

“Ugh, I almost forgot about that.” she muttered. “I don’t remember if I said thanks, by the way. I’d rather not think about what would’ve happened if you hadn’t found me.”

“Are you…gonna be fit for an adventure right now?” I asked. She didn’t look too heavily injured, probably thanks to the Healing Potions that Lukas had given her, but that didn’t mean she was in peak quest condition.

She squared her stance, tossing her head and nudging Lukas’s hand off her shoulder. “I’ll be fine. This is more important than little injuries.”

“How exactly _did_ you get hurt so badly? You never told me.” Lukas asked with narrowed eyes.

She gave him a scrutinizing look. “I’ll fill you in on the way to the temple. Which, by the way, I think we should start heading towards.”

“We should go by Beacontown first, so we can get supplies and horses. Also, I should probably tell Radar that I’m skipping town for a while.” I pointed out.

Julia snapped her fingers and pointed at me. “Good thinking. I’d love to see your Beacontown; I wonder if it’s very different from mine.”

\--

The three of us left Lukas’s cottage, heading towards the town. Julia showed no other signs of injury, though there were a few times she acted like her head was bothering her.

“You said that the…_me_ of your dimension isn’t still in Beacontown?” Lukas asked. She nodded brightly.

“Yep. He decided to go with Petra when she disappeared off into the great unknown. It wasn’t planned at all. I really wanted to go with her, because it’d be a ton of fun and I know she’d like the company, but I couldn’t just leave Beacontown.”

I grinned. That was exactly how I felt about the whole thing.

“Right before she left, she asked if I was completely sure I didn’t want to go along.” Julia continued. “We both knew I was going to say yes, but she asked anyway. And when I turned her down, instead of acting all disappointed, she just looked at Lukas and was all ‘you know, I’m willing to extend the invite, I know we’ve had some issues recently but I’d really like the company’, blah blah sappiness.”

“And he went with her?” I asked. Something similar had happened with us, except that it had been me to suggest it and him to politely-but-adamantly say no.

“Yep.” Julia said again. “Acted all unsure about it for a moment, but he was all for it. They’ve been in love with each other practically forever, so they must be having the time of their lives out there.”

Her expression fell into something slightly wistful, and I wondered if she was regretting that she wasn’t the one with Petra.

I glanced over at Lukas, wondering if he would have anything to say about the ‘in love with each other’ thing. He was looking ahead at the gates of Beacontown, and didn’t appear to have heard. Or maybe he was just pretending.

“If we _are_ gonna be gone for a while…I should probably let Aiden know.” he murmured thoughtfully.

I bit back the sharp retort before it had a chance to slip out. “I’m not sure if we’ll have time. I kinda feel like the sooner we deal with this, the better.” I said instead.

Julia shot me an odd look. “Aiden’s…still alive in this timeline?”

“Yeah. He’s not in yours?” I tipped my head to the side, feeling confused.

The young woman shook her head. “He killed himself a few years back. Really shook us all up.”

Lukas stopped in his tracks. “Wait. He _killed himself_? You’re serious?”

“Yeah. We found his body right near the amulet thingy in Beacontown. Cut both wrists, stabbed himself in the stomach, and it looked like there was a nefarious potion involved too. For the life of me, I’ll never know what drove him to do it.” She mused.

Lukas reached up and ran a hand through his hair, staring straight ahead. “_Killed himself_. I mean, he struggled with a lot of self-hate and depression a while back, but I never imagined…”

“I guess he just took a different path in this timeline.” Julia guessed. “Made some different choices.”

“So…does that count as a deviation? Because this is a difference between our timelines, even if it wasn’t you or I that made the choice.” I asked.

Julia bit her lower lip, scowling thoughtfully. “I think so. Even though the exact deviation wasn’t done by a Prime, we still somehow influenced it. At least, I’m assuming we did. What happened after he ah…fell from Sky City?”

I stared at her, confused. “He…never…fell from Sky City. I did, Lukas did, Isa did, but not Aiden.”

She blinked rapidly, looking surprised. “What? Really? So you didn’t, like…you didn’t, oh y’know, push him off?”

“_Push him off_?!” Lukas echoed from behind me. Julia swiveled her head back to look at him.

“Yeah. Oh, don’t look at me like that, the bastard deserved it. The whole fight, all he did was mock me. Making jabs about Reuben, you know. Fuck, he flat-out _told_ me to push him off, and I did.” She added defensively.

Lukas and I looked at each other. “That’s…entirely not what happened with us.” I said slowly. “I fought him, yeah, but there wasn’t much to it. He’s never been a fantastic swordfighter, and when I disarmed him, he just…gave up. Asked for mercy, actually. I let him come down to the ground with us.”

“He ended up in Isa’s prison for a while, but there was no…he didn’t…” Lukas stammered. He still seemed hung up on the fact that there was a timeline in which Aiden was dead.

Julia snorted, sounding disgusted. “Waaay more kindness than he deserved, if you ask me.”

“So what _do_ you think, that he deserved to die alone?” Lukas asked, a dangerous edge creeping into his voice. Julia shook her head, not looking at him.

“No, ‘course not. But there’s gotta be a middle ground between him being dead and him being allowed to go free and clear.” Her voice was even, almost dismissive, and I could practically hear Lukas fuming.

Again, I decided to interfere before things got too heated. So far, it didn’t seem like Julia and Lukas made the best duo. “Hey, alright. It doesn’t really matter what happened to who in which dimension, so long as those things stay in their respective dimensions. Time is of the essence, right?”

Another flippant shrug from Julia. “S’pose so.”

“So let’s just focus on getting things done as quick as possible, so we can get to the temple before dark. Lukas, can you go to the stable and get horses for us? And if you see Aiden on the way, yeah, warn him you’re gonna be gone. Julia and I will get supplies, and I’ll try to find Radar. Okay?”

“Sure.” Lukas said noncommittally, still giving Julia a reproachful look.

She didn’t seem to notice, grinning at the purple terracotta blocks as we strode through the entrance of Beacontown. “Couldn’t stand to look at the red anymore either, huh?”

I laughed. “Yeah. Too many bad memories associated with it.”

“Same here. The gates to my Beacontown are cyan, though.” She added.

“Cyan makes me think of the gauntlet. Purple is better.” I said, making a face. Julia grinned. “Point taken. For the record, though, I wasn’t the one who decided on blue.”

Her eyes lifted to the floating tower, then she paused and turned in a slow circle, looking around at the town. “Whoa. This actually looks _very_ different from mine. Most things are in the same places, but it’s just…different.” She murmured.

“How long did you say it’s been since you defeated the Admin?” Lukas asked with a contemplative expression. Julia met his eyes. “I don’t think I did, but it’s been about three…four weeks. Not a full month yet.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Well, that explains it. It’s been over three months for us.”

Julia froze. “…Oh. Okay, yeah, I suppose that fits.”

“Is that a thing that can happen? The times of dimensions not matching up?” Lukas inquired.

Biting her lower lip, Julia slowly replied, “Yes…I think so. I’d have to ask Ivor, but I’m pretty sure…”

She looked suddenly much more serious and worried than she had before, and I got the feeling there was more to this than she was letting on.

“Is that bad? I mean, it’s a deviation, right, so…?”

Julia shook her head. “No, it’s not a deviation. Most of the timelines have little time differences. Each one ‘starts’ a little bit after the previous one. But…the thing is, I thought that the dimension I was going to took place _after_ mine. Not before.”

“How many timelines are there?” Lukas asked warily. Julia made a face.

“Another thing I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to count them. We know for sure there’s our two, and I’d bet there’s at least two more. _Could_ be more, though. Not sure.”

I decided not to bother asking what she meant by counting them. Lukas turned towards the stables, splitting off from Julia and I as we hurried into the Order’s headquarters.

I lead the way to our supply room, with Julia looking fascinatedly around. “This is so weird. It looks so similar to home, but _not_, at the same time. Like some kinda twisted déjà vu.”

Radar was nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that he was usually around at that time of day. I opened a chest at random and knelt in front of it. “Grab some basic crafting material, whatever you think might come in handy. I never seem to actually be prepared when I set off on a quest, and I’d _really _like to start breaking that habit.”

I was just putting some cobblestone and oak planks into my inventory when I heard the sound of the front door closing. Light, rapid footsteps announced my intern’s presence just before he appeared in the entrance of the room.

“Boss! Are you _serious_ right now?!” he demanded.

I closed the chest and stood up. “That depends. What’s the matter?”

Radar crossed his arms. He was an inch or two taller than me due to a recent growth spurt, though he still wasn’t exactly an intimidating figure. “I just ran into Lukas, and he seems to think you’re leaving town again on another whacked adventure.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” I said calmly. He gave me an exasperated look.

“Jess, come on. Another crazy new escapade?”

“Radar, this is important.” I countered, using the same stern tone of voice he was attempting.

He groaned. “Of course it is. _Everything’s_ important. You’re the leader here, you can’t just-”

It was then that he caught sight of Julia, who had just come up beside me. “Who are you? No, don’t tell me, you’re part of whatever ‘important’ thing Jess is getting himself into now.”

She laughed. “I’m Julia, and yes. You’re really trying hard to keep him on track, huh?”

Radar gave her a thoughtful look that bordered on a scowl. “Key word; _trying_.” he replied simply.

“I’m serious. There’s a problem with, well…the universe, I guess? That sounds too dramatic, so I’ll just say our dimension. There’s some stuff we need to take care of.”

“Dimension?” Radar echoed uncertainly.

“It’s complicated. I swear, when I get back, I’ll tell you everything.” I promised.

He watched me cautiously for a few moments, seeming like he was trying to make a decision. Julia nudged my arm.

“We should go, if we want to get outta here before dark.”

“Right.” I agreed. I started to step around Radar, but he stopped me.

“I want to go with you.”

I blinked in surprise. “What?”

“Whatever you’re up to, I want to come. Adventuring may not be my favorite thing, but I don’t want to get left behind.”

Raising an eyebrow, I said, “What about Beacontown? Weren’t you just needling me about leaving it leaderless?”

He shrugged. “Things are going well here; the town will survive for a few days. I was making excuses to get you to stay.”

I paused, trying to decide whether or not to dissuade him, when Julia did it for me. “Radar, this might be dangerous. We don’t fully know what we’re getting into yet, so the less people involved, the better.”

He gave her a confused look. “How do you know my name? And if it’s so dangerous, why are you dragging Jess into it?”

“She’s not dragging me.” I cut in, dodging his first question. “And we don’t know for sure it’s gonna be dangerous, she just said it _might_ be. Either way, I really don’t want you to get hurt.”

Radar responded with a surprisingly Petra-like glare. “Don’t talk about things being dangerous. Maybe you forgot, but I’m building up a hero resume too. _I_ was the one who tamed the giant Enderman and saved you guys in the Terminal Space, remember?”

I sighed. He had a point. Despite being small and nervous, he would be a good addition to the team. Plus, maybe he’d be able to help me keep Lukas and Julia from ticking each other off again.

“Fine, alright. You can come. But if anything- I mean _anything_ -gets dicey, don’t you dare try to do something heroic and stupid. Okay? I can’t run this town without you.”

He did a small, excited bounce. “Yes! You won’t regret it, I swear! What are we saving the universe from? Should we get armoured up? Are you gonna get another cool weapon? Where are we headed?”

Julia brushed past him as she left the room, calling over her shoulder, “First, meet Lukas and get our horses. Then, the old Order’s temple. After that…is gonna take some explaining.”

“Back to the temple?” Radar echoed, looking at me as I started to follow Julia. He didn’t seem to mind that she’d only answered his last question.

“Yeah. There’s some stuff there we need.”

“Oh. From that weird room?” he asked.

I gave another affirmative. He quickened his pace, leaning close as he walked alongside me. “Also…why does she seem so _familiar_?!” he murmured.

I laughed loudly, and Radar startled. “Ooohh man. We have a _lot_ to tell you.”

\---

The sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon when we arrived at the old Order’s temple.

Radar stared up at it in awe as he dismounted his horse. “That’s…_wow_. This is incredible.”

Oddly enough, Julia looked equally mesmerized. “I swear it looks more majestic every time I come back here. Especially with the sunset light…god, I don’t think I’ll ever stop wondering what it looked like back before it as a ruin.”

Julia had explained who she was and how the timelines worked to Radar on the way there, so he didn’t question this comment. He’d actually taken the information a lot better than Lukas or I had, seeming to grasp the complicated topic fairly quickly. Of course, he’d still peppered Julia with questions, but for the most part, he hadn’t been too overwhelmed with the landslide of information.

I partially suspected he was just in shock.

The four of us quickly made our way inside the temple, with Radar still looking raptly around at everything. Julia commented on how glad she was that the traps were no longer working, which made me laugh because that’s what I had thought when Lukas and I had been there the previous week.

It wasn’t long before we were watching the back wall of the library split apart after Lukas threw the hidden lever. I heard surprised gasps from both Julia and Radar as they saw the interior of the secret room, but I hardly noticed.

The little space wasn’t any less disconcerting the second time. The dim light falling on the painted letters, unreadable chart, and pinned papers sent a shiver down my spine, though I didn’t know why.

Julia gravitated towards the strange, treelike chart, while Radar immediately went to examine the painted words. I stood in the threshold, hesitant to go inside.

“What does this mean?” Radar asked in a hushed voice, gesturing to the black letters.

“It roughly translates to ‘I know that I know nothing’.” Lukas supplied. “Julia, what are we looking for?”

She didn’t appear to have heard him, looking intently at the chart. Her nose couldn’t have been more than two inches from the paper.

“Julia.” I prompted. “You said you could find out how to get to your timeline?”

“Hm? Oh! Right, yes.” She straightened up, wrenching her eyes away from the paper. “Though, if we’re being technical, it’s not as much of how to get _into_ my timeline as how to get _out_ of this one.”

This earned her a confused look from Lukas. “What do you mean?”

Most of her focus had been diverted to scanning the miscellaneous papers pinned to the opposite wall, so her reply was halfhearted. “Getting in is simple. It’s getting out that takes certain knowledge that I don’t have. I need to find the exit codes.”

“_Exit codes?”_ Radar echoed. She nodded distractedly. “There’s…symbols that you make…lets you get out of a timeline. Different symbols for different timelines. It’s like making portal frames; you need different materials for gates to different worlds. Except it entirely doesn’t work like that, but whatever.”

Lukas and I exchanged a doubtful look, but neither of us said anything. Radar had moved on to examining the large chart.

“Can you actually read this?” he asked, aiming the question at Julia.

“Mm-hm, kinda. I can read parts of it, and there’s other bits that even though I don’t know what _exactly_ they say, I have a pretty good idea. It’s hard to explain.”

“Huh. I can’t make heads or tails of it.” Radar added quietly.

“Neither can I.” Lukas contributed.

Julia let out a shout of triumph. She leaped up and snatched a paper off the wall, waving it gleefully in the air. “Found it! This is exactly what we need!”

“Nice!” I said approvingly. “How did you know where it would be?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t know _exactly_. But Ivor had a lot of stuff like this that he said he’d found in a ‘more unknown bit of the Order’s old hangout’, and I figured that had to mean here.”

“So, what do we need to do? Build a portal frame or something?” Radar asked.

Julia shook her head. “Nah. Making a gate is a lot simpler than a portal. Well, physically, at least. No building required. But we should go back outside to do it, since gates can take up a lot of space.”

She tucked the paper in her inventory. “You guys go ahead. I’m gonna grab a couple other things I think I’m gonna want to look at more in-depth later.”

Making a dismissive motion with her hand, she turned back and took another pinned-up paper. I wasted no time in leaving the dim, creepy room, and Radar was quick to follow me.

Julia ended up being only a few paces behind as we returned to where we’d tied our horses. She had the first paper in one hand, and an enchanted diamond sword in the other.

Radar started forming another question. “How do you m-”

“Watch and see.” Julia interrupted. She lifted the sword and began tracing elaborate symbols in the air. The motions left shimmering white shapes hovering where the sword tip had been, glowing a bright, pure white.

Before I could even think to wonder how it was possible, Julia brought the blade up high and slashed downwards, opening a glowing white gap in the air where the symbols had been.

“What…?” Lukas murmured, wide-eyed. Julia turned to face him, stowing her sword in her inventory and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“That, my friend, is a gateway to another dimension.”

Without waiting for a reply, she took her horse’s lead in her hand and strolled straight into the brilliant gate.

“Wait! How…what does…we just go through? Is it safe?” Radar exclaimed, but she was already gone.

I twisted Inara’s lead through my fingers, thinking.

Did I fully, 100% trust Julia? No. Not yet.   
Did I believe her about the timelines, and that she had good intentions? Yes.

Before I overthought it too much, I followed Julia, my horse trailing after me as I walked into the shimmering abyss.


	9. Journeys Within Journeys

I emerged into a land of nothingness.  
  
A wide, perfectly flat, grass-covered plain, as far as I could see. The horizon was dim and far in the distance, dotted by faint white clouds. Based on the lighting, it appeared to be somewhere between midday and sunset, though I couldn't actually see the sun anywhere.  
  
There was not another being in sight, no animals, no mobs, and no Julia. The entire place was perfectly, eerily silent, so completely still that I had to wonder for a moment if I'd gone deaf.  
  
Then, things slowly started to fade into view around me, coming into focus as though I was adjusting to an unusual light level.  
  
The empty plain still stretched out in all directions, but I was now standing on the edge of a massive circle of glazed terracotta blocks in all possible colours. Surrounding the disc were tall slashes of white light similar to the one Julia had opened- gates to other timelines, I had to assume.  
  
Three of these were brilliantly luminous, exuding a colourless vibrancy that somehow didn't hurt my eyes to look at. The other two were fainter: one was only slightly dimmer, like a torch vs. a sea lantern; but the other was barely there at all. A quick glance behind me confirmed that the gate that I'd come through was just as bright as the first three.  
  
Julia and her horse were standing near one of the clearer gates, waiting for me. She waved me over and I started to walk towards her, before something else caught my attention.  
  
There was another layer of gates above this one, though unlike the filled-in circle that I was standing on, these were connected by only a ring of blocks. And although it was high enough up that I couldn't be sure of what I was seeing, I think there was a third layer as well.  
  
That was a _lot_ of alternate dimensions.  
  
A strange sizzling flash of a noise came from behind me, and I turned to see Radar appear through the gate that I'd come through. His eyes were wide and startled as he looked around at the six white gates.  
  
"What...?" he murmured.  
  
Julia was grinning. "Welcome to what I call the In-Between. You're now officially outside of everything you've ever known to be true."  
  
Radar didn't look comforted by this. "Why is it so _empty_? I've never seen a Plains biome so...flat."  
  
"That's because we're not in a real dimension. We're on the edge of all of them." Julia said cryptically.  
  
He shook his head. "That doesn't help _at all_."  
  
Now that I was closer to the gate near Julia, I could see that it wasn't pure white. Little flashes of colour appeared here and there, looking almost like images. Small, quickly-fleeting images, but they were there.  
  
I watched the gate closely, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. I caught a glimpse of a side-profile of Julia's face for a moment, then a second-long view of her standing at the top of the Farlands maze, wearing Ellegaard's armour. Another quick flash of her standing on top of a tall Enderman statue made of black wool blocks. Her watching symbols fly out of the open Atlas in the Portal Network. Little snippets of her adventures, showing that this gate led to her timeline.  
  
By the time I'd torn my eyes away from the faint images, Lukas had caught up to us. He gave Julia a begrudging sort of look.  
  
"I thought you said that gate would take us to your dimension."  
  
She replied with a superior sort of expression. "Well, it is taking us to my dimension, more or less. Gates bring us here, and then we take other gates to our intended timeline. It's a process."  
  
"You've been here before, then." Lukas observed. She nodded.  
  
"Yeah, when I came to find Jess. That time...didn't go so well, though." She finished hesitantly.  
  
The worry evident on Radar's face increased tenfold. "What happened?"  
  
"Uh..." she glanced between Lukas and I. "You know how when you first found me, I was injured by more than just those zombies?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, that's because I was attacked by someone. They ambushed me right as I came through the gate." Julia admitted. She was acting vaguely guilty, though for what reason, I couldn't tell. "I have no idea who they were or why they were here, but they beat me up pretty badly before I managed to make a run for it and get through your gate."  
  
"That sounds terrifying." Radar commented, looking anxiously around as though he feared someone was about to jump out from behind one of the other gates.  
  
Julia shrugged. "Yeah, it kinda was. I mean, that it wasn't the first time I've dealt with someone trying to kill me, but it wasn't a fun experience. Not to mention they were wearing a mask _and_ a hood, so I had no way of identifying them. Not...that I'd be able to anyways, since they could've come from any of these timelines."  
  
She then shifted her shoulders and straightened her back, like she was pushing away unwanted thoughts. "But it doesn't matter. I don't really care who they were or what they were trying to accomplish. I'm alive, I managed to find you, and we have other things to do. We need to get to the Far Lands."  
  
It wasn't until she adjusted her grip on her horse's lead that I realized how tightly she'd been gripping it. Despite her casual tone and insistence on moving forward, I could tell there was something about the whole situation she wasn't telling us.  
  
I didn't get a chance to ask right then, though. Julia gave me an 'are you ready' sort of look, then stepped into the gate without another word. This time, it was Lukas who followed her first, then Radar.  
  
Inara softly nudged my shoulder after Radar had disappeared. She didn't seem at all daunted by the abyss of white light I was going to lead her through.  
  
I glanced back at the other gates surrounding the colourful circle. It suddenly occurred to me how _real_ this all was, all these different timelines and what they meant. I wondered who else knew about them, and who had built this place, if it had, in fact, been made by human hands.  
  
It forced me to consider what else out there I didn't know.  
  
Another gentle shove from my horse brought me back to my senses. It was by instinct that I stepped forward, passing through the gate and into another dimension.  
  
The other three were already on their horses when I emerged, and I wasted no time in swinging myself up into the saddle. I didn't recognize our new surroundings, but Julia, who now had a map in her hand, seemed undeterred.  
  
"This is gonna be quite a journey. There's no turning back now." She warned, aiming the comment mostly at Radar.  
  
"We know," said Lukas. "Which is why we should get a move on. The Far Lands await."  
  
\--  
  
The ride to the Far Lands took five days. We didn't exactly race all the way there, but we made good time. Luckily, the place we'd ended up when we came through the gateway was closer to the Far Lands than Beacontown, which gave us a good head start.  
  
We got to know Julia better on that journey. She was a pleasant person to travel with- easygoing, positive, and interesting, though with a bitingly snarky side. She'd won Radar over fairly easily, and for the most part, she and Lukas stopped sniping at each other. Though that didn't mean things were _completely_ copacetic.  
  
She confided to me that it was very unsettling to have to reintroduce herself to Lukas and Radar, since she was already so familiar with them, or at least the versions of them that dwelled in this dimension.  
  
And I still had the feeling that she was hiding something. She didn't seem to be the type of person to withhold truly urgent information, so I hoped that whatever it was she was concealing, it wouldn't impact our mission.  
  
Julia had also spent a while attempting to explain what she knew about the deviations. She had trouble articulating her thoughts on that topic, but that wasn't for lack of trying.  
  
She said that when the timelines became too out of sync, they could start throwing off the basic functions of our universe. Time went whack, mobs started acting and even appearing different, basic tools like compasses or maps stopped working.  
  
"Things just..._change_. It's hard to explain. I can think it clearly enough, but for some reason putting it into words is a bridge I just can't cross."  
  
We had also gleaned some new information from the other papers she'd taken from the hidden room. Nothing completely world-shattering, just interesting details about how the timelines worked.  
There was no firm evidence, however, that it had indeed been Soren who had been investigating the timelines.  
  
My instincts told me it was him, and Julia agreed. Lukas had said we were probably right, but that we couldn't possibly know for sure based only on what we knew at the time. Radar, having never met Soren, decided to refrain from expressing an opinion.  
  
Julia and I had spent an evening focusing intently on figuring out the differences between our timelines. This consisted mostly of trying to remember the most key choices we'd made on our journeys, and comparing what had happened because of those.  
  
I'd been more than a little surprised to discover that when the Witherstorm had first been formed, she had chosen to rescue Gabriel over Petra.  
  
"He was valuable! He had information we needed to know! Plus, he's a legendary hero; I couldn't just _leave_ him there!" she'd said.  
  
"Petra's your friend!" I'd argued. "You left her there in favor of a stranger."  
She had, at least, had the decency to look sheepish, and I'd let up on guilt-tripping her.  
  
"I mean, it all worked out in the end." she'd muttered.  
  
  
Yes, it had all worked out. That was the most obvious constant we could find- even though our choices and paths had been wildly different, the end product was still the same.  
  
This knowledge had kept me awake for a while. Why _did_ everything turn out fine? Even when there were losses and the odds were stacked against us, we'd still triumphed. We'd still come out on top.  
  
Why was that?  
  
I had tussled with similar queries in the past, but none exactly like this. I had, several times before, wondered _why is it me? why am I the 'hero' here? what gives me the right to always be the winner?_  
  
But never before had I put that into the perspective that included the timelines. I thought back to that first fateful paper Lukas had found, the list of terminology with my name scrawled over the definition of Prime.  
  
Primum Movens. Those who 'drive' the timelines.  
  
What did this all mean? How did it line up with the grand scheme of things, and how did it affect _me_?  
  
Questions. Always, always, so many unanswered questions.  
  
I was just holding onto the knowledge that once we reached the Far Lands, Ivor would be able to explain it all. He would tell us how to fix the deviations and set the timelines right, and I would hopefully get my hands on some solid answers.  
  
  
We reached the towering walls of the Far Lands on the evening of the fifth day of the journey. I'd nearly forgotten how truly breathtaking the sight was, the long-stretching gaps giving glimpses into the sheer stone cliff. Patches of coal and dirt dotted the impenetrable face, a natural touch against the impossibility of the world's edge.  
  
The feeling of nostalgia grew stronger as we dismounted our horses and went into the tunnel that led to the maze. Suddenly, I was sixteen again, looking up at the towering walls of the maze in the way of me saving the world. I was young, optimistic. I hadn't yet fallen prey to the jadedness that crept up on me through my years of adventures.  
  
I shuddered slightly, a chill slipping down the contour of my spine. God, how things had changed.  
  
  
I was not the only one intimidated by the barriers of stone.  
  
"Uh...where are we supposed to go?" Radar asked nervously. Lukas pointed to the length of sturdy vines hanging down a nearby wall.  
  
"Up those. We get up to the top of the walls, which makes it easier to get to the other side. That's where Ivor's lab is."  
  
Julia wasted no time in grabbing ahold of the vines and starting to pull herself up. I was learning that she was a very action-oriented person, more interested in doing things than discussing them.  
  
Lukas, Radar, and I quickly followed. We had to walk single file, which left little room for wrong turns and dead ends, but it was easier to see where we were headed from up there.  
  
We passed streams of both water and lava cascading from the high-up natural ceiling, though luckily encountered no mobs. It didn't take too long for the building that housed Ivor's lab to go from an indistinct shape in the distance to a within-reach destination.  
  
The feeling hit me when we were walking up the birch-wood stairs. A heavy, slightly ill sensation, the hunch that something wasn't quite right. Before I could say anything, Julia had already thrown the door open, and was calling Ivor's name.  
  
Since everything so far had been fairly familiar, I was decently surprised to see how much the interior of that place had changed. It was much more...organized, to put it simply. Most of the shelves, occupied by both books and potions of all kinds, had been moved to lining the walls. Different contraptions were scattered around the rooms, in the organized-chaos sort of way I had started to associate with Ivor. A cartography table and a crafting table had been pushed together, creating a large space on which to strew papers about.  
  
Lukas ran his right hand along the top of one of the bookshelves, frowning slightly. He rubbed his fingertips together, and the troubled frown deepened. I glanced at the bookshelf, wondering what he was reacting to.  
  
Dust.  
  
A light, thin layer of grey dust had settled on the shelf. All the shelves, in fact.  
  
"Ah...Julia?"  
  
She didn't reply right away, having dashed off to a different room in search of the potion master. I heard her continuing to shout for Ivor, the worry in her voice increasing every time she did so.  
  
"Julia?" Lukas called. She reappeared, leaning back into the main room. She was the picture of concern, her skin ashen and brown eyes wide.  
  
Neither of us had to say anything else. She shook her head, though in disbelief or denial or something else entirely, I couldn't tell.  
  
"He's gone."


	10. New Obstacles

Julia threaded her fingers through her short brown hair. “He’s gone. He’s just _gone_. I don’t understand it.”  
  
“He can’t have just _vanished_, can he?” Lukas asked.  
  
She shook her head wildly. “No way. He wouldn’t have just left, not when he told me he’d be here. And he wouldn’t have abandoned his research. This makes no sense.”  
  
“Are you sure there’s nowhere else he would’ve gone?” I pressed, not wanting to accept that we may have just come all this way for nothing.  
  
“Yes, of course I am. Ivor told me he’d be _here_, and even if he’s been a shady character in the past, he wouldn’t’ve lied or changed his mind without telling me. And you didn’t see how obsessed he was with this whole timeline thing; there’s no way he would’ve left all this stuff behind.” Julia said, still wringing her hands anxiously.  
  
Radar spoke up next. “Well…it has to have been at least two weeks since you last saw him, right? So…maybe something came up only recently and he didn’t have a chance to get a message to you? Especially since you were kinda in another dimension?”  
  
Examining the dusty shelves again, Lukas argued, “No. He’s been gone for longer than that, from the look of this place. Which still leaves the question of where he went, and why.”  
  
“He would’ve left a note, or some sign of where he was going. Unless…” Julia started pacing, sounding even more worried than before. “Unless he didn’t intend to leave. If something happened to him…”  
  
“Let’s not jump to conclusions. I’m sure we can figure this out.” I told her gently.  
  
“But…” Radar started nervously. “Without Ivor, do we have a way to learn more about the timeline deviations? What do we do?”  
  
Julia shook her head again, not seeming to have fully heard what he said. “There’s gotta be a way to find him.”  
  
“But what if we _can’t_?” Radar worried. “If he’s gone, how are we supposed to fix any of this?”  
  
Julia hesitated for a second, then turned away. “I…I’m not sure.”  
  
Lukas crossed his arms. “You’re not sure?” he echoed. “Are you _really _telling me you don’t have a plan here?”  
  
She stopped her pacing to give him an upset scowl. “Yeah. Ivor was supposed to help us; he was supposed to be here. My entire ‘plan’ was hinging on that.”  
  
“So what you’re saying is, you didn’t hesitate to pull _us _into this even though you had no idea what was really going to happen.” Lukas challenged. His voice had taken on a hard, critical tone.  
  
Julia’s glare deepened. “I had no reason to believe Ivor wouldn’t be here! I thought I knew _exactly _what we were getting into! Don’t try to put this on me.”  
  
He let out a sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, you’re clearly blameless here, subtracting the fact that _you _were the one to come barging into our lives and dragging us into this whole mess. This wasn’t our fight, until _you _decided to make it so.”  
  
“Lukas.” I said in a warning tone. I was ignored.  
  
“What else was I supposed to do?” Julia snapped. “Do you really think that enlisting the help of _myself from another dimension_ was my first choice? No! My friends are all gone, Lukas! They’re deep in their own lives, and they either weren’t willing to help or were too difficult to even get ahold of! I sought out Jess because I hoped that if my most-trusted friends didn’t want anything to do with it, then maybe another version of _me _would!”  
  
“That doesn’t change the fact that you still went barreling ahead without really knowing what you were getting yourself, and _us_, into.” Lukas continued stubbornly.  
  
Julia balled her hands into fists, the very picture of frustration. “For gods’ sake, Lukas. I thought we already went over this. I thought all the answers would be _here_. This makes no sense, and you blaming me for everything you can think of isn’t getting us anywhere! We…we need to figure out what we’re going to do.”  
  
The anger had begun leaching out of her voice as she said this. She still seemed tense and fairly ready for a fight, but was now acting more anxious than furious.  
  
I turned to glance at the papers scattered across the crafting and cartography tables. “Well, even without Ivor, there’s gotta be _some _clues here. Maybe we can find something about how the deviations work, or…_anything _that’ll point us in the right direction.” I knew I was beginning to grasp at straws, but I was also starting to get desperate for some solution to Lukas and Julia’s arguing.  
  
Lukas still had his arms crossed over his chest, and hadn’t let up on the cool glare he had pinned on Julia. He stayed silent for another moment before relenting. “Fine. I’ll browse through the bookshelves in here. You and Radar check the stuff on those tables.”  
  
The fact that he hadn’t acknowledged Julia did not escape me, but I chose to ignore it. “Okay. Julia, can you search the other room?”  
  
Still giving Lukas a fairly hostile expression, she replied with a brief ‘sure’ and turned away, heading for the other part of the house. Lukas also directed his attention elsewhere, beginning to examine the dusty bookshelves without another word.  
  
Radar gave me a cagey look as we started to sift through the chaotic jumble of papers on the tables. “So…_that _could’ve gone over better.” he muttered to me, lowering his voice so Lukas wouldn’t hear.  
  
“No kidding. I’m not sure what kinda grudge those two have or where the hell it came from, but we need to figure out how to keep them from picking any more fights.” I added.  
  
Glancing briefly back at Lukas, Radar said softly, “Well…he sorta had a point this time. Julia really doesn’t seem like an expert in the art of ‘thinking ahead’.”  
  
“That makes two of us. Though I guess that’s what we have you and Lukas for, right?” I pointed out. Radar shrugged agreeably, seeming happy to be needed.  
  
  
Ivor did not appear to have even attempted to organize his research. The papers seemed to have been thrown about with no thought at all, which made me wonder. While not being the most organized person, Ivor could be strangely meticulous in certain ways, and this wasn’t his style.  
  
Another strange thing was that not all of the writing seemed to be his. Most of it was, but some things were written in flowing, lighter-handed penmanship that I didn’t recognize.  
  
I scanned through a few documents that seemed to be elaborating more on the ‘key terms’ of the timelines; constants, variables, et cetera.  
  
My eyes snagged on Soren’s name written beside the bit about variables, followed by two question marks and circled twice.  
  
I thought back to the hidden room in the Order’s temple. I still believed it was Soren who had been investigating the timelines there, but this seemed to point to that he was _involved _in them somehow.  
  
Could he have something to do with the influx of deviations that Julia had described?  
  
Across from me, Radar set down a small notebook. “Jess…” he started hesitantly, still looking down at the table.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
He took another few moments to answer, and when he did, it was in a very uncertain, slightly nervous voice. “I’ve been thinking of the timing of all this, and I don’t…I’m not sure it matches up.”  
  
“What do you mean?” I asked.  
  
“Just…how all this is unfolding. Did Julia ever say how long it was between her finding out about the timelines and deciding to go after you?”  
  
I nodded, remembering when the topic had come up during our trip to the Far Lands. “Yeah, a little over a week. She said Ivor had returned and told her about this only a few days after he left Beacontown, and that she spent awhile trying to recruit some of her other friends before giving up and coming to my timeline.”  
  
He tapped the notebook. “Well, it doesn’t really fit. He’s been gone for a while, from the look of this place. But not that much time has passed since he would’ve left, which, by the way, he doesn’t appear to have. Not to mention that it says here that he not only expected  
Julia to be here, he knew _you _would come too.”  
  
“Me?” I asked with raised eyebrows. Radar shook his head quickly.  
  
“Well, not exactly you. But he knew she was going to try to find another Prime. So, there’s just no way he would’ve deserted Julia and his research, since he was supposed to have been waiting for her.”  
  
I set down the paper I’d had in my hand. “Radar, what are you saying?”  
  
“I’m saying…I think it’s very possible that Ivor didn’t leave, but was…removed? Probably by someone or something that didn’t want us to know about the timelines.”  
  
I gave him a cautious look. It was very unlike Radar to present such a dismal theory. But on the other hand, he _was _known for his candor, so if he was telling me this, he must have really believed it.  
  
Another thought occurred to me. “Okay. I guess I can see that. But then why leave all these papers and stuff here? Take the researcher, but not the results?”  
  
“Maybe they were hoping we wouldn’t make sense of it on our own.” Radar suggested. “A lot of this stuff isn’t exactly worded in the most crystal-clear way.”  
  
I shrugged, unconvinced. “Maybe. Seems pretty inconsistent, though.”  
  
We returned our attention to the various documents. I picked up a paper written in that smooth, unfamiliar handwriting, scanning the words.  
  
The particular paper I was looking at seemed to be describing the effects of major deviations in the most wordy, unhelpful way possible.  
Nonetheless, from the look of it, nothing good would come of the continued disruption of the timelines.  
  
_I remain decently uncertain of the full effects these such deviations can have, _it began_. Minor things build up and become more problematic than I know how to describe. The dimensions were never meant to be perfectly equivalent; some differences will of course arise. But the most major events in a Prime’s life need to remain the same, or things start spiraling out of control. Time is a fragile thing- when the fabric of the universe begins to have holes torn in it, such gaps can arise in the passage of time as well. Slips and jumps can occur, as well as small events repeating (like an intense sort of déjà vu). But what I believe may be the worst effect is bits and pieces of one timeline beginning to impact another; such as items ‘crossing over’, if you will._  
  
I inhaled sharply. That had already happened, with the map that had mysteriously appeared on my desk. I pondered this for a moment before reading the last few sentences.  
  
_Such things can lead others to discover what I have, the truth of the timelines and our parallel dimensions. People were not meant to know of this, partially because the knowledge of such things can cause the timelines to deviate even more. I do not yet know how this works, though more research will certainly be put into it._  
  
My hands felt slightly clammy as I set down the parchment. I did _not _like all that talk about time being altered, and didn’t want to consider how that could escalate more. Lukas may not be happy that Julia had dragged us into this whole mess, but I for one was glad to help if it meant preserving the simple laws of our world.  
  
Noticing what looked like my name on a different page, I lifted the paper to examine it. This one was obviously written by Ivor- his untidy scrawl had become very familiar to me over the years. This particular note seemed to have been jotted down in a rush, judging by the way some of the letters ran together and certain punctuation was left off.  
  
_This timeline appears to be a branch, not an original, despite the irregularity she found. Do not yet know the name of the Prime that drives the 1st original, though the other original is Jess. Is the J thing a coincidence, or something else? Coincidences are becoming less ‘coincidental’ by the minute but I can’t think of a reason for the names to be linked  
Is it possible for new timelines to branch off a secondary timeline? Unsure of how to figure out, but it could potentially happen  
Don’t yet know how much of a gap exists between each timeline. Must be at least a few months between the original and this one, though I don’t know about the two originals or how to find out without going there. Julia will have to find out on her own, it’s too risky for_  
  
The rest of the paper was blank. I turned it over in desperate hopes that answers would somehow be on the other side, but of course, there was nothing.  
  
This new tidbit of information had given rise to more questions than I’d have liked. Who was the ‘she’ mentioned in the beginning? I didn’t think it meant Julia, but who else? What was too risky?  
  
What the hell was an original timeline versus a secondary? And what did he mean about timelines branching off?  
  
I gripped the edge of the table, running my other hand through my hair. Questions. Always so many blasted questions.  
  
  
Radar, who’d been mutely shuffling through papers like I had, lifted his head. “Ah…I think I found something.”  
  
“What kind of something?” Lukas asked, suddenly regaining an interest in us. He must not have found anything relevant among the various bookshelves.  
  
“Possibly the beginnings of an answer to the whole what-do-we-do-about-all-this question.” Radar said with a slight smile as he reached up to adjust his glasses.  
  
I made an impatient, ‘go ahead’ gesture with my right hand, and he gave me an amused look.  
  
“So, you know how the whoever-it-was doing all the research in the Order’s temple described the things called _constants_, right?”  
  
“Yeah, the shit that’s consistent in multiple timelines. The Prime being the Wither Slayer, the Admin losing his powers, whatever.” Lukas replied, crossing his arms casually. Julia silently approached us, obviously listening but apparently deciding not to contribute.  
  
Radar nodded. “Right. There’s not a lot of constants, but the ones that exist are pretty obvious. Well, according to Ivor, there’s a missing constant in one of the timelines, and a pretty big one.”  
  
I frowned. “Wait, what? There’s gotta be a lot of missing constants, right? With all the deviations and stuff?”  
  
“No, no, hold on. You’re getting constants mixed up with variables.” Radar corrected me. “Variables are all different. The whoever-it-was defined them as objects or people that are still in one timeline but not in another. Like, um…Aiden. He’s alive in our timeline, but not in  
Julia’s, and we don’t know about the rest. His fate _varies_.”  
  
He fluttered the paper in my general direction. “But _this_…this is something else. This constant is something that’s in every single timeline _except _one. That’s what’s causing the most issues. All the timelines are different, but this ‘missing constant’ is something that’s not  
supposed to be different.”  
  
“What is it, then?” Julia asked hurriedly.  
  
Radar gnawed his lower lip, shifting rapidly from confident to nervous. “I have no idea. If Ivor knew, he didn’t write it here. He managed to figure out that it existed, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t manage to find out what it was.”  
  
Lukas huffed. “Great. So, as usual, we’re just one piece short of solving a puzzle. I’m _really _hating this theme we’re starting to get into.”  
  
“Maybe, but at least this time it’s one piece instead of like, a million.” Julia said. “If this ‘missing constant’ is what’s causing the influx of deviations and problems, then we’ve just gotta find it and fix it. Simple as that.”  
  
He shook his head. “I object _so much_, to all of that. First of all, if Ivor didn’t manage to find out what this constant, or un-constant, I suppose, how are we going to? And what if it’s not something that can just be _removed_? What if it’s an event that was supposed to’ve happened years ago? We can’t just fix that.”  
  
Julia shot him a mulish look. “We can certainly try. If you’re that bent on being the king of pessimism, go ahead, but _I’m _not going to just give up. The entire universe as we know it is at risk, and I refuse to let petty questions get in the way of saving it.”  
  
“They’re not petty questions! They’re things we need to know if we’re going to get _anywhere _with this! God, now I _know _you two are different versions of the same brain.” Lukas snapped, pressing his fingers against his forehead. I tried and failed not to take offense at that statement. “Look. I get that you want to just leap headlong into this, but it’s just gonna make more problems if you don’t slow down and think about what’s going on. How are you planning on fixing this ‘missing constant’?”  
  
Planting her hands on her hips, Julia shot back with, “Well, that depends on what it is. Which we’re _not _going to find out just by standing here and arguing.”  
  
“How are we supposed to figure it out, anyways?” Radar added. “With Ivor gone and no other clues here, where do we even start?”  
  
Lukas let out a pointed little ‘hmm’, and Julia’s glare deepened. I cleared my throat, somewhat surprised no one had pointed out the most obvious solution yet.  
  
“We start with the other timelines, of course. It may not be as easy as searching through papers, but somewhere out there, in those alternate dimensions, are all the answers we need.”  
  
Radar gave me a startled look. “You don’t mean…just, jumping into another dimension and seeing what’s different?”  
  
“Why not?” I inquired. “Do you see another way to do this? Because right now, I’d say going straight to the source is probably our best bet.”  
  
Julia’s frustrated expression morphed into one of surprise and approval, while Lukas scowled slightly and scanned the other papers on the tables as though a different solution would magically present itself.  
  
He then exhaled slowly, looking like he was giving up an internal battle. “Fine, then. If this is the only way we’re going to fix this…then into the unknown we go.”


	11. Into the Unknown

**▪Lukas’s POV▪**  
  
  
I wasn’t sure why I seemed to be the only person to realize that this whole situation was spiraling out of control.  
  
On some level, I understood Jess’s desire to help, and that now that he’d committed himself to this mission, he wasn’t going to back down for anything. But I also wanted to absolutely _throttle _him for suggesting we just leap into another dimension and see how it matched up with our own.  
  
He’d always been like this, from the day I’d first met him. So impulsive, ready to jump into literally anything if it meant helping someone or fixing something.  
  
It was part of the reason I admired him so much. I’m what you might call an overthinker, unwilling to do anything without first figuring out what’s really going on. Only when I’m following someone else am I brave enough to dive headfirst into an unfamiliar situation.  
  
I was still a little unsure of how much to believe about all this timeline stuff, even though I’d seen the gates to those other dimensions. It made me uncomfortable to think of all the things I didn’t know. I thought I understood how our world worked, and now I was being told that it might not be that way for long.  
  
It seemed strange to be saving the world _before _it was actually in danger. Though, I guess that because of the whole ‘missing constant’ thing, it was in danger, just not…tangibly. There was no monster to destroy or enemy to defeat, just a strange, confusing puzzle to solve.  
  
  
Julia slashed her sword downwards, cutting through the mystical white symbols she’d drawn in the air. Like before, the slash left a glowing white gap in the air in front of us, looking exactly how you’d imagine a gate to another dimension.  
  
Tucking the diamond weapon in her inventory, Julia asked, “We all ready?”  
  
“Of course.” Jess replied confidently. He didn’t seem at all concerned that we were preparing to head into a vast indefinite. Sure, the three of us were already outside our home dimension, but at least here we’d known from Julia that it wasn’t _too _strange.  
If, of course, the idea of parallel worlds could ever be considered ‘normal’.  
  
“Good. I don’t want any of you wimping out on me if we get into danger.” She said with a quick wink. Although her tone was joking and her expression light, she shot me a significant look before turning and striding into the gate.  
  
I bristled slightly. Despite the fact that we’d started out on relatively good terms, I didn’t trust her. She was too flippant, too thoughtless, too argumentative. And I was getting the uncomfortably strong feeling that she was hiding something, from the way she reacted to or said certain things.  
  
Radar quickly followed Julia, disappearing into the abyss of white light so completely, it was as if he’d never existed at all. Jess stepped forward to go with them, but I reached out and caught his shoulder right before he went through the gate.  
  
He turned, giving me a questioning look. I dragged in a deep breath, then asked, “Are you sure we should do this?”  
  
“Do what? Save the universe?” he asked in that peculiar tone of his that rested somewhere between dryly sarcastic and perfectly serious.  
  
“Do…what we’re going to do to try to save the universe.” I hedged. “Trust Julia. Go running into a whole new timeline with no idea of what’s gonna be there.” I didn’t relinquish my hold on his shoulder, preventing him from going through the gate and ignoring my caution.  
  
His expression darkened slightly, a tinge of unhappiness revealing itself. “You don’t trust her? Lukas, what on earth has she done to you?”  
  
I hesitated. “She…look, okay, it doesn’t matter if she hasn’t done anything. That woman is hiding something, and I don’t like it. And she’s just…problematic. She’s stubborn and impulsive and quarrelsome, and I’m questioning if we really want to blindly follow her into this. I know I probably should’ve brought this up sooner, but you didn’t really give me a chance.”  
  
“Stubborn and impulsive?” he echoed, watching me silently with those serious dark eyes. “Maybe you’re forgetting, but those are both attributes you usually assign to _me_.”  
  
My grip went slack from shock, and he pulled away, stepping towards the gate again with a slightly despondent expression. I stayed frozen as he disappeared across the threshold, appalled at my own words.  
  
I should’ve known better than to diss Julia. She was, after all, a version of the friend I cared for and respected.  
  
But she was so different, at the same time, in small, subtle ways that were downright uncanny when paired with the rest of her personality. She was just like Jess, but _not_, and I didn’t know how to react to it.  
  
It didn’t help that Jess and I still hadn’t fully made up from our fight on the way back from the Order’s temple. We’d mostly forgiven each other, but we hadn’t really addressed the main problems. And even though I knew we’d eventually need to get that out of the way, I really, _really _didn’t want to talk about certain things that I knew he was bound to bring up in that inevitable conversation.  
  
I sighed, then began walking into the gate. Julia had said that the openings to the In-Between never lasted long, and even though I was full of objections to this whole quest, I didn’t intend to get left behind.  
  
  
Unlike the first time, the strange sight of the In-Between came into view immediately after I crossed the threshold. The perfectly empty plain, strangely tinted sky, the circle of colourful terracotta blocks below my feet, and the brilliant white tears in space, the gateways to the other timelines.  
  
The others were waiting for me, more or less. Julia appeared to be walking in a circle around one of the gates, Radar was examining the dimmest, smallest gate with a mystified expression, and Jess was looking up at the empty sky.  
  
“I wonder why those gates aren’t down here with the rest of them.” Jess mused quietly.  
  
Julia looked briefly over at him. “Dunno. They must be different in some way, but I’m not sure how.”  
  
I glanced between them in confusion. What other gates could they possibly be talking about?  
  
I looked upwards in the general direction that Jess appeared to be studying, but all I saw was the dim periwinkle-blue of the sky fading eternally into an unreachable evening. Radar approached us as well.  
  
“What do you mean?” he asked, aiming the question at Jess. He was rewarded with a thoroughly befuddled look from the short man.  
  
“The…the other gates up there. Don’t you…you can’t see the second layer?” Jess asked, his voice laced with confusion.  
  
I shook my head slowly, feeling distantly anxious for a reason I couldn’t explain. “No. It’s just sky.”  
  
Walking over to stand beside Jess, Julia suggested, “Maybe it’s, I dunno, a Prime thing. We’re supposedly a little unusual in relation to the average person.”  
  
“I think I found something about that in Ivor’s research.” Radar added. “It wasn’t much, but he mentioned that Primum Movens have the ability to interact with the timelines a lot differently than other people.”  
  
I spared another glance at Jess, who had returned to looking skyward. I didn’t want to say it aloud, but I’d suddenly wondered if maybe that was the reason he was so…heroic. Not because of how his adventures had shaped him, but because he’d been a Prime from the start, even if he’d never known it.  
  
“Also, does anyone have any ideas as to why that gate over there is so dim? It doesn’t seem to have any images in it, either.” Radar continued, gesturing to the gap of white light he’d just been looking at. I gave it a brief glance.  
  
Four of the six gates were identical from a distance; tall, pure-white rips in the air, pulsing with light and flickering indistinct images when you got closer. The fifth was very similar, just a little smaller and a few shades dimmer.  
  
The last, however, was something else entirely. It was little more than a smear of white, shimmering vaguely. I hadn’t looked at it close enough to see that there were no glimpses of the Prime’s life that drove that timeline, but I believed Radar.  
  
Julia shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “I’m not totally sure, but I think it’s because that timeline isn’t fully developed yet.”  
  
“How can it not be fully developed?” Jess asked with a frown. We seemed to have completely opposite reactions to all this information: he was ready to accept it, even if he didn’t fully understand it all, while I, despite understanding it, was hesitant to believe.  
  
“Maybe that Prime hasn’t finished his or her ‘main’ adventures yet. Like they’re still, I dunno, stuck in the Portal Network or something.” I suggested.  
  
Julia raised an eyebrow at me. “Or they haven’t even _started _their adventure yet. Hence the fact that there’s no images, instead of just a few.”  
  
Radar was now staring at the dim gate with an awestruck expression. “You mean, if we went to that one, I would meet a version of you or Jess _before _you were heroes?” he asked, wide-eyed.  
  
“I mean…yeah, probably something like that.” Julia agreed. “I don’t know, though, and we’re not going through that one at any rate.”  
  
“Why not?” Radar inquired. I could tell he was stuck on the idea of discovering Jess and Julia’s hero roots firsthand.  
  
Jess shook his head. “Because,” he began in a patient voice, “That timeline isn’t completely formed, so it won’t match up with the others at _all_. It’s not part of the problem.”  
  
“Yet.” I added. Jess gave me a concerned look, then returned his attention to Radar.  
  
“Oh. Yeah, okay, I get that. Which one _are _we going to, then?”  
  
I hadn’t even noticed that Julia had wandered away until she called, “Well, that’s the question of the hour. That one and that one aren’t necessary, since they’re mine and Jess’s, but any of the others are up for negotiation.” she started, pointing to two of the gates, then the one between them. “As far as I know, _that _one’s been around the longest, but I’ve also been a little hesitant to learn too much about it.”  
  
“Why?” Radar asked, ever curious.  
  
Julia gave him an apprehensive look. “Because that’s the one that my timeline stems from. Going there would be the equivalent of visiting the future, and I’m not so sure I want to do that.”  
  
Jess asked her something else about timelines branching off from each other, but I stopped listening, staring intently at the gate Julia had deemed the oldest. The image flashes I saw were brief and faded, and I felt faintly uneasy in a way I couldn’t describe.  
  
The Prime of that dimension appeared to be a young woman with pale skin and a lot of long, dark hair. She was beautiful, but there was something vaguely _off _about her. I couldn’t tell a lot from the momentary flashes, but she was definitely unusual. It was something in her movements, how she stood and the way she smiled.  
  
She looked like a predator.  
  
I’d seen Jess appear that way as well, when someone or something he cared about was threatened. He seemed like a whole different person in those moments, fierce and protective and intense. It was quite intimidating when he got like that, but then he’d turn and smile, or make some joke or silly comment, and it would all be back to normal.  
  
  
I shuddered slightly, turning away from the gate right as Jess called, “I vote for this one.”  
  
“Yeah? That’n branches from yours.” Julia informed him, striding over. Jess nodded.  
  
“I know. It looks like it started decently behind mine, so, if we’re lucky, the whole Admin thing hasn’t happened yet.”  
  
Julia snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “Good thinking. That’d be helpful, so we can talk to the Prime.”  
  
Jess was about to step into the gate when Radar exclaimed, “Wait! Do we have any way to know where we’re going to end up?”  
  
“I don’t know.” Julia admitted. There was another strange similarity and difference between her and Jess: neither of them were afraid to admit they were wrong or didn’t know something. But while Jess always seemed slightly guilty or sad to not have information, Julia seemed to have no such problem.  
  
“When Ivor first told me about the In-Between, he mentioned something about intention, but…yeah, I’ve no clue.” she continued, reaching up to rub her forehead. I’d begun to notice that she did that a lot, as though she had a perpetual headache.  
  
“I guess we just have to really _really _hope we end up somewhere familiar.” Jess said with a quirked smile. With no further words, he pivoted to face the gate again, and walked briskly through it.  
  
Radar quickly followed him, leaving me and Julia as the only living souls in the In-Between. She waved her arm towards the white gap. “After you.”  
  
I gave her a slightly frosty look. “I thought chivalry said it’s supposed to be the other way around. Ladies first, y’know.”  
  
She replied with a superior sort of expression. “I’ve never been one for tradition. Are you going, or not?”  
  
I didn’t bother to answer, just strode forward and entered the gate. The white light swirled and surrounded me for a few moments, then faded as I stepped out the other side.  
  
Jess and Radar swiftly came into view, the former of whom appeared to be carefully studying our surroundings. We had appeared in an extreme hills biome, and one that seemed vaguely familiar.  
  
“Good news!” Radar said. “Jess knows where we are. And, possibly even better, it’s really not that far from Beacontown.”  
  
I felt a surge of relief, coupled by mild nervousness. “Great. And…bad news?”  
  
Radar gave me a look. “Does there always have to be bad news?”  
  
“I mean, there _usually _is.” I pointed out with a shrug, glancing at Jess again. He appeared to be ignoring us.  
  
A strange noise caught my attention, and I turned around to see Julia stepping into this dimension. Watching someone appear out of nothingness was somehow even stranger than seeing them disappear into an abyss of white light. Apparently the large, glowing gates didn’t form unless they were specifically opened.  
  
She looked around calmly. “So, where are we?”  
  
“In the mountains behind Beacontown. We just need to head _that _way a little while, and we should be in town within the hour.” Jess said, pointing in the direction he meant.  
  
  
We began walking, and as we did, I realized that I did in fact recognize where we were. I’d never been up there, but the view of the mountains that made up the backdrop of my hometown was familiar nonetheless.  
  
I ended up falling into step with Jess, though he hardly acknowledged me. I wondered if he was still upset about me insulting Julia (and technically him), or if there was something else on his mind.  
  
He walked fairly quickly for someone of his short stature, and his eyes were slightly glazed as though he wasn’t completely looking at the path in front of him. I gave him a slight nudge with my elbow.  
  
“Hey. You alright?” I asked. I knew what kind of answer I was going to get, but I asked anyways.  
  
His expression bordered on disinterest when he looked up at me. “Yeah, fine. Just thinking.”  
  
“About what?” I asked after a beat of silence.  
  
He returned to looking forward, throwing out a flippant, “Stuff.”  
  
So, that conversation went just about exactly as I thought it would. Part of me wanted to keep pressing until I got an actual answer, but that hadn’t worked out so well last time. Besides, I’d prefer to hold off on the more in-depth conversations until I was sure that Julia, who was currently a few paces ahead of us, wasn’t listening in.  
  
  
It wasn’t long before I began to see the tall buildings of and hot-air balloons that hovered above Beacontown. There didn’t appear to be a massive floating tower, though, which was a good sign.  
  
A feeling of anxious restlessness swept over me. If there was anything massively wrong with this timeline, we were about to find out.  
  
Julia seemed to have no such qualms. She briefly glanced over her shoulder to show us an exuberant grin, then sped into a quick jog, leading the way down the mountain and out of the extreme hills biome. We crossed the bridge that spanned the aquatic district, and soon found ourselves just inside the wall of this dimension’s Beacontown, near the side of the Order’s Hall.  
  
Radar was looking suspiciously around at everything. “It looks so much like our Beacontown.” he commented.  
  
“Well, it’s not. We’re gonna have to be stealthy- since there’ll be versions of you two here, we’ve gotta make sure not to arouse suspicion.” Jess said, gesturing to Radar and I.  
  
“And we need to figure out _when _we are.” Julia added. “At least we know this is before the Admin took over everything…but how much before?”  
  
I studied our surroundings carefully as we started down a side path that paralleled the main street. Beacontown was a very familiar setting for all of us, but it had changed a lot in the past few months, and I had trouble keeping track of when exactly each of those changes occurred.  
  
My eyes caught on a building near the front entrance that was partially destroyed. I could’ve sworn that one had been fixed after the Admin was overthrown, but…  
  
Still aimlessly following Julia, I made mental notes as I continued scanning the town. There were several buildings damaged that were in the process of being repaired, mostly with Prismarine blocks. If I was right, they had been smashed by the Admin when he was still in his Prismarine Colossus form.  
  
Which meant…  
  
I moved my arm towards Jess, intending to nudge him to get his attention, but my hand met empty air. I paused, glancing back at where Jess was standing frozen, several paces behind us.  
  
“Jess?” I asked, going back to stand beside him. He was staring wide-eyed at the main street, looking much like Radar had in the In-Between.  
  
“Jess. What’s…”  
  
The words faded from my lips as I caught sight of what he was gaping at. A young man stood in the center of town, near Reuben’s memorial, talking to a group of unfamiliar people. He had skin the colour of dark-oak wood and long black hair pulled into a ponytail, and seemed to be about the same height as Jess. All in all, he appeared to be fairly ordinary.  
  
Except, of course, for the Prismarine-coloured gauntlet on his right hand.


	12. Allies and Anomalies

The gauntlet. He had the _gauntlet_.  
  
This was bad.  
  
Lukas had come up beside me, and I could tell from his surprised face that he’d seen it too.  
  
“Julia, Radar. Come here.” I called, trying not to be too loud. They both turned and hurried over.  
  
“What?” Julia asked, looking apprehensive and excited.  
  
“I found the Prime, and when we are.” I said grimly.  
  
Her eyes went wide, and she grinned. “What, already? That’s great!”  
  
Radar, however, seemed to catch on that I wasn’t pleased with the discovery. “It…_is _great, right?” he asked carefully.  
  
With a shake of his head, Lukas said, “Not completely. He still has the gauntlet.”  
  
“…Oh.” Julia’s face fell. “_Oh_. Shit. We’re in trouble.”  
  
‘In trouble’ was right. If the Admin hadn’t removed the gauntlet yet, that meant it wouldn’t be long before he was returning to Beacontown in his snowman form, trapping the town in snowy night and demanding that the Prime go through his _icy palace of despair_. And after that happened…  
  
“Wait, how do we know that’s actually the Prime? What if it’s already Romeo in disguise?” Radar suggested nervously. I turned back to study the man who may-or-may-not have been a version of me. He had a very gentle, open face, and was smiling slightly as he spoke to the group of townspeople. From the gestures he was making with his hands, he appeared to be suggesting ways to repair the buildings the Admin had broken.  
  
I was about to point this out, but Lukas spoke up first. “No. When Romeo came back as Jess, he wasn’t wearing armour. And he didn’t really talk to and help people, just strutted around being strange. That’s gotta be the Prime.”  
  
His tone was grim, and I got the feeling he was mentally reliving the period of time where I’d been gone, when Romeo had completely overturned our precious town.  
  
“What do we do?” Julia asked me. “I was intending to go straight in and tell him about the timelines like I did with you, but I don’t know if we’re gonna have time for that. If he’s still in the middle of the whole Admin mess, we probably shouldn’t distract him.”  
  
“Maybe we should go back to the In-Between and try a different timeline?” Radar tried.  
  
“There’s not that many other timelines, Radar. I really think this one’s our best bet at the moment.” Julia argued.  
  
“Then the only thing to do is talk to the Prime.” I decided. “We’ve _got _to figure out the missing constant, and soon.”  
  
Lukas was frowning worriedly as I said this. “But…you can’t influence this timeline too much. That could create who knows how many deviations and just…other problems.”  
  
I suddenly remembered the paper I’d found that explained some effects of the deviations, and how it had said other people weren’t meant to know about the timelines. Lukas was right in that we needed to be careful, but we had to figure this out.  
  
God, we were stuck.  
  
“Okay, here’s an idea. You two,” Julia started, pointing to Lukas and Radar, “need to hide, so no one sees you and gets suspicious. Jess and I will talk to the Prime, and try to get information without saying too much. With any luck, we’ll be able to figure something out without disrupting everything too majorly.”  
  
Lukas snorted sarcastically. “_Any _luck? More like massive, unrealistic amounts of luck.”  
  
Julia waved a flippant hand at him. “Wha-atever. We’ll manage.”  
  
“Where are we supposed to hide?” Radar asked.  
  
I paused for a moment. “Somewhere in the Order Hall. No one should be around there, since everyone who normally would be is helping with the repairs.”  
  
They hurried away, and Julia gave me a scrutinizing look. “Are you sure we should do this?”  
  
I almost laughed, remembering that Lukas had said the exact same thing to me earlier. This time, I replied with, “No. But I don’t see another option.”  
  
  
She and I strolled out into the main street, trying not to be conspicuous. Luckily, the people the Prime had been talking to were now walking off, and we caught up to him right before he turned away as well.  
  
I became more aware of little details as we approached him. He had surprisingly bright green eyes that contrasted with his dark skin, and his armour looked a lot like my favorite set, the Ender Defender, except that it was purple.  
  
He gave us a light, mildly cautious smile as Julia casually said, “Hey there.”  
  
“Hello. Are you new to Beacontown? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” he asked in a kind, genuine tone.  
  
That was the moment that I discovered what an alarmingly good liar Julia was. “No, we’ve been around for a while,” she said with an easy smile. “but my friend here is kind of a hermit, and neither of us bother to get around very much.”  
  
His grin widened, though he gave me an appraising look. I knew from experience that he was wondering why we seemed familiar. “I know the type. I’m Jacek, by the way.”  
  
“I’m Julia.” She returned, then subtly elbowed me when I didn’t speak up right away.  
  
“Call me Jess.” I said. I noticed the other man arch an eyebrow curiously, obviously noticing the J thing.  
  
Julia made a show of looking around. “We’ve been out of town for a little while; what happened here? It looks like…some _giant _crashed through and broke everything.”  
  
I wanted to kick her for getting so close to the truth, but luckily Jacek just laughed. “Well, that kinda _is _what happened. I sorta got mixed up in some things I probably shouldn’t’ve, and, well…I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard any stories about the Admin, but…”  
  
“The Admin! Here?” Julia gasped theatrically. Jacek nodded somberly.  
  
“Yeah. He’s the reason I’m stuck with _this_, too.” he explained, lifting his hand to show us the gauntlet. “The fact that this is still on me kinda makes me think he’s not really gone, though it’s been several days since I defeated him.” Jacek continued, flexing his fingers and giving his gauntleted hand a thoughtful look.  
  
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Several _days_? It had only been a few hours before Romeo had shown up in his snowman form. What on earth had happened?  
  
Julia looked equally stunned, and Jacek’s expression had slipped into one of suspicion as he looked between our shocked faces.  
  
“What? You two look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”  
  
“W-we, um…” Julia stammered, eyes darting around as she searched for an excuse. “We…didn’t realize we’d been gone for so long? We were traveling, and, uh, slipped into the Nether for a while; we must’ve lost track of time. Y’know, with no real day or night cycle, i-it can be so hard to figure out, uh…when you are?”  
  
Jacek seemed at least a little appeased, though it was obvious he still had his guard up. “Hm. Well, I can’t say I’ve been in that exact situation, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.”  
  
He briefly glanced around again, as though assessing what else needed to be done. “So, was there something else you needed? There’s a lot to be fixed after the Admin wrecked everything, so…”  
  
I cleared my throat. “Actually, yes. There’s something else going on, something big.”  
  
“What kind of big? Does this have to do with the Admin?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
Julia and I exchanged a look. “No. At least…I _really _hope not.” Julia told him.  
  
“And as for the first question, think…fate-of-the-entire-universe kind of big.” I said hesitantly.  
  
Jacek crossed his arms lightly. He studied the two of us again, seeming like he was trying to catch the hint of a lie darting across our expressions. He didn’t say anything else, which made me both relieved and apprehensive.  
  
“Look, can we talk to you in private?” Julia requested. “This isn’t really something that…most people are supposed to overhear.”  
  
“Why not?” he challenged. Another nervous glance passed between us.  
  
“It’s hard to explain. But this is really important, I swear.” Julia tried.  
  
Jacek seemed to relax slightly, relenting to our pleas. “Fine. We can talk in the Order Hall, so long as this doesn’t take too long.”  
  
  
As we started towards the large building, Jacek asked, “What exactly do you mean by the ‘fate of the universe’? I mean, the Admin wasn’t bad enough?”  
  
“The Admin just wanted Beacontown, though I suppose he ended up almost harming the entire world. This is…different.” Julia hedged, ignoring the surprised and curious look she got from Jacek. “We’re not talking about just this world, or even just the Portal Network.”  
  
“…What else is there?” Jacek asked cautiously.  
  
Julia’s face was calm and serious as she turned towards him and said, “Dimensions, Jacek. Alternate dimensions.”  
  
He paused in his tracks, just a few paces outside the Hall. He stared at Julia for several moments, then looked at me.  
  
“Other dimensions.” he said slowly. “And are you two…from these alternate dimensions?”  
  
Julia nodded. “And the thing is, when I say ‘alternate’, I really mean ‘equivalent’. Our dimensions are nearly exactly like yours.”  
  
Jacek raised one eyebrow. “_Nearly_?”  
  
“Wait, are you sure we should hit him with _that _one just yet?” I asked Julia before she could say anything else.  
She gave me a distinctly superior look. “That was the first thing I hit you with and you handled it fine.”  
  
She addressed Jacek again. “Yes, nearly. All of our dimensions- except they’re actually more often called timelines -are almost completely parallel. The same places, the same people, even the same events. That’s where things get weird. Because we’re not just any interdimensional travelers; we’re two different variations of you.”  
  
The uncannily green eyes went wide, and he gaped at Julia as though she’d, well, just told him there were multiple versions of him. She had a rather smug look on her face, and I was getting the feeling she had more of a flair for drama then she’d originally let on.  
  
“Y-you’re…you’re _me_?” Jacek said in a hushed voice, pointing at me.  
  
I shrugged. “Actually, with the way our timelines work, it’s more probable that you’re a version of me. But same difference, I suppose.”  
  
Jacek reached up and ran a hand through his hair, which didn’t completely work because of the ponytail. He didn’t seem to notice or care, though.  
  
“That’s why you two seemed so familiar? When I first saw you, I could’ve sworn I knew you, even if I didn’t. Is that why?”  
  
Julia nodded. “Yep.”  
  
“Hold on. How can you be _me _if you’re, well, a woman? No offense, I just…don’t get it. And if the events are the same in different dimensions, how come you guys are here instead of dealing with your own Admin-induced problems?” he asked dubiously. I noticed his eyes zero in on my bare right hand, and knew he was starting to get even more suspicious of our claims.  
  
“Because there’s two ‘original’ timelines, the ones that all the others stem from. Yours branched off from Jess’s here, and mine came from the other one, where the Prime is a woman.” Julia explained easily.  
  
“Prime?” he echoed.  
  
“Primum Movens. Us. The ‘heroes in residence’ of each dimension. The people who drive the timelines.” I clarified. “And as for the second question…”  
  
I paused, realizing too late that I didn’t know how to explain the deviations and time difference. Luckily, Julia seemed more prepared.  
  
“Even though our timelines are all _technically _duplicates of each other, there’s still some differences. Those differences are actually why we’re here, though we’re not quite there yet. This timeline, your timeline, takes place quite a while after either of ours. For Jess, it’s already been three months since the whole Admin mess.”  
  
Jacek turned his attention to me again, looking interested. “So you’ve already defeated the Admin for real? He does come back, then?”  
  
“I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you that.” I said with a slight smile. “See, most people aren’t supposed to know about the timelines. It messes things up, makes them match up a little less.”  
  
“Then why are you two here?” he asked curiously. Somehow, he seemed to be accepting what we were saying, though I wasn’t sure if we were doing a good job of explaining, or he was just a more trusting person.  
  
“That’s where things get complicated.” Julia said. “Like I said, there’s little differences between the timelines. Things here and there that don’t match up. They’re called deviations, and they haven’t been that big of a deal until recently. All we know is that someone or something has been…messing with the timelines, screwing around with the variables and deviations. And it’s damaging the universe, to put it simply.”  
  
Jacek gave her anther wary look. “How?”  
  
“Our different dimensions _are _the universe, as far as I know. Things haven’t started getting really bad yet, but if they do, who knows what could happen. Basic things in life could be completely overturned, if the timelines aren’t set right soon.”  
  
“So you came to…recruit me?” Jacek asked carefully.  
  
Julia shifted her shoulders slightly. “That depends. We’re searching for a ‘missing constant’, something that’s supposed to be consistent in every timeline but for some reason isn’t. We need to find out who or what is behind all this, and fix everything before it’s too late. And if you would be willing to help…well, I’m not going to force you to, but it’d be nice.”  
  
The other Prime crossed his arms again. He was silent for several long moments, before finally saying, “I need some time to think about all this. You’ve gotta know that this is a lot to process at once, and I’m not sure how much of it I’m willing to believe.”  
  
He shifted his weight slightly, glancing at the ground. “I’ll admit that I _have _considered the possibility of alternate dimensions before, though not to this extent. So some of this doesn’t sound too far-fetched, though it’s like nothing I’ve ever encountered before and I’ve learned from experience not to trust everything people tell me.”  
  
Jacek glanced over his shoulder, back out at the town. “Give me an hour. There’re some things I need to take care of, and I’ll think about what-all you just told me. Wait for me in the treasure room, and I’ll be back when I’ve made a decision.”  
  
“Alright, that’s fair. Just…don’t tell anyone else about this?” I requested. He replied with a small grin. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”  
  
  
He turned and strode away, leaving Julia and I head into the Order’s headquarters on our own. I was dearly hoping that I’d been right, and that there was no one else in there.  
  
The place was dead silent, not so much as a whisper from any of the rooms.  
  
“Lukas? Radar?” Julia called hesitantly. “It’s us. Are you guys in here?”  
  
I heard a door shut, and Radar came from the direction of the library. “So? You talked to the Prime?”  
  
“Oh, we did. Found out some pretty major shit, too.” I replied.  
  
“Where’s Lukas?” Julia asked, frowning.  
  
“I’m right here. How’d your little investigation go?” he inquired on his way down the stairs.  
  
I headed towards the treasure hall. “We told Jacek- the Prime -about the timelines and stuff. He actually took it a bit better than you or I did, though he said he needed some time to think about it all.”  
  
“Anything on the missing constant?” Radar asked apprehensively.  
  
Julia shook her head, then paused. “I’m not sure yet. But something weird’s going on here. You know how when Jess ‘killed’ the Admin in his Prismarine form, it was only a couple hours before he showed up again?”  
  
“Yeah, ‘course.” Lukas said impatiently.  
  
“Well, it’s been several _days _since this timeline’s Admin was ‘defeated’, and he hasn’t come back.”  
  
Radar stared. “_What_? How can that be possible?!”  
  
“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like Jacek actually killed him for real, since he’s still got the gauntlet, but...it doesn’t make any sense.” I said.  
  
Lukas began pacing the length of the room. “Maybe this is because of us and our timeline jumping? We might’ve messed something up somehow.”  
  
“Or there’s something completely different going on here, and we’re looking at a crazy-major deviation.” Julia contradicted as she walked over and sat down on the steps that led up to where the different sets of armour were stored.  
  
Radar was biting his lower lip, something he did when he was thinking hard. “Well, _something _must’ve caused this timeline to be paused somehow, right? We should figure out the major events of this timeline, see if there’s anything that would’ve thrown it off badly enough to cause this.”  
  
“I guess. He said he’ll meet us back here in an hour, so we can talk to him then. Until then, we’re just gonna have to wait.” said Julia. She was rubbing her temples, brows pulled down and eyes squinted slightly like she had a headache.  
  
Lukas stopped his pacing, standing near the center of the room and propping his hands on his hips. “Great, waiting. Just what we’ve got _tons _of time for.”  
  
Julia scowled at him from below her hand. “We can’t push him too much if we want him on our side. I would think that you would- _arrghhh_.”  
  
Her words cut out into a pained groan. She shut her eyes and rubbed at her forehead with both hands, still whimpering.  
  
Radar hurried over to her. “Julia? Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.  
  
“I’m- I’ll be…aaarghh, not _now_!” she exclaimed, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes.  
  
“What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?” Radar insisted, kneeling beside her.  
  
She grimaced in pain, shoulders tensing up as she let out another small wail. I also hurried over, concerned that something was seriously wrong.  
  
“Julia? Seriously, what’s- WHAAAA!” Radar suddenly shrieked in surprise and jumped away, a look of shock and horror taking over his features.  
  
“What? What happened?” I demanded, over Julia’s continued noises of pain. She had her eyes screwed shut, kneading her forehead with one hand.  
  
“Sh-she- that isn’t- she’s- that isn’t Julia!” Radar stammered frantically, pointing at her. At that moment, Julia opened her eyes, staring at me with an expression of pure desperation.  
  
I sucked in a deep gasp and stepped back, almost tripping over my own feet in my panic.  
  
Because her eyes weren’t Julia’s calm oak-brown anymore. The sclerae had turned dark red, and her irises had changed to shades of yellow.  
  
She had Admin eyes.


	13. Twisted Paths

It was on pure instinct that I pulled my diamond sword from my inventory and pointed it at the woman I’d thought was my friend. “Alright, _Admin_. What the hell are you doing here?”  
  
Lukas had an arrow nocked into his enchanted bow, aiming it at Julia. “How long have you been in her form? The whole time?”  
  
“Wait, wait! I’m not the Admin, I swear it!” she cried, holding her hands up in an ‘I surrender’ motion.  
  
I gestured to her with my sword. “Right, sure. What are you, then?”  
  
“Julia. It’s me, I promise! I’m not an Admin, I’m not dangerous. Please don’t hurt me!”  
  
“How do we know?” Lukas demanded, at the same time Radar exclaimed, “Does ‘Julia’ even exist?! Were you playing with us the whole time?!”  
  
“No!” she yelled. “No, I wasn’t! Please, just listen to me!”  
  
She dragged in a deep breath, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, they were back to the calm brown I was used to.  
  
“Please. I’m not Romeo. I really am Julia; I always have been. This is a misunderstanding.”  
  
“You having Admin eyes is a _misunderstanding_?!” Lukas countered.  
  
She shook her head wildly. “Yes, I have Admin eyes, but it’s not what you think. Read my lips- _I am not Romeo_.”  
  
I lowered the weapon slightly, watching her carefully. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn’t want to attack her if she was telling the truth.  
  
“Come on. Have I acted anything like Romeo at _all_ in the time you’ve known me? I mean, I know it hasn’t been all that long, but…” she shook her head briefly. “It’s just a deviation. That’s all.”  
  
Lukas loosened his grip on the bowstring. “Care to explain?”  
  
She nodded, pulling absent-mindedly on the sleeve of her lavender shirt. “It’s a deviation. You know how when Jess hit Romeo with the golden gauntlet for the last time, it took away his powers?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“Well, that didn’t fully happen with me. At least, it did _take_ his powers…but it transferred them to me. I…I can turn it on and off, but, yeah. I have Admin powers.”  
  
The three of us stared at her. She glanced nervously at me for a moment, then returned to looking at the floor. “I’m not a full Admin, and I haven’t lied to you about anything else. I don’t like these powers at _all_, but if I go too long without using them, they start to…overwhelm me, I guess? So I’ve been trying to use them for only a few minutes every day, just…creating or building little things so everything doesn’t freak out. But since I’ve been around you guys so much, I haven’t had much chance to release the power, and it finally just…it got too strong.”  
  
“Is that why you kept acting like your head hurt?” I asked, stowing my sword in my inventory.  
  
She nodded. “Yeah. Not using it…well, it affects me in a lot of ways. Getting headaches is one of those. And I don’t have his full powers. Well, I sort-of do, but they’re not nearly as strong as Romeo’s. I’m…look, I didn’t _want_ to hide this from you guys. I want you to trust me. But there was so much going on, and I just…I didn’t get the chance.”  
  
Lukas also put his bow away, then crossed his arms. “Is there anything else you haven’t told us? I _mean it_, Julia. No more secrets from you.”  
  
“No! No, there’s not, I promise. Nothing major, at least.” She replied. Lukas’s blue glare deepened, and Julia raised her hands again. “I swear. There’s nothing else.”  
  
“Actually…” Radar started. “I’d say there _is_ something else.”  
  
Julia gave him a look that greatly resembled a rabbit when it catches sight of a wolf. “W-what?”  
  
He pointed a finger at her, though he seemed more thoughtful than accusatory. “This isn’t just a little deviation. It’s a big difference. One that might be big enough to be considered our missing constant. Though I suppose it’s less of something being missing, and more of something being there when it’s not supposed to be, though I’m pretty sure it amounts to the same thing.”  
  
Somehow, her eyes went even wider and more frightened. “Wait, you don’t mean…?”  
  
“I think he does.” contributed Lukas. “This missing constant we’ve been looking for may have been right here the whole time, as _your_ Admin powers. Jess doesn’t have them, and this Prime certainly doesn’t either. Which, I suppose, makes _you_ the variable that needs to be removed.”  
  
“No, that can’t be right! R-removed, that’s-it’s not…we can’t just…” Julia stammered, white as a sheet.  
  
“Julia, if we’re right about this…” Radar said hesitantly.  
  
I shook my head firmly. “No, guys, stop. This isn’t the missing constant. Stop threatening her.”  
  
“How do you know?” Lukas challenged.  
  
“Because, like you just pointed out, not every timeline has gotten to this point. For all we know, Jacek _could_ end up with Romeo’s powers- it’s too soon to make assumptions. This one and the other two timelines haven’t finished their Admin adventures yet, so I refuse to let anyone get hurt before we figure all this out.” I explained. I was feeling a little miffed at Lukas for jumping to conclusions so quickly, considering that he’d been the one to chastise me and Julia for leaping without looking.  
  
Lukas clenched his jaw, and I had a distinct feeling that he was thinking the same as what had just run through my mind. Julia sighed, looking highly relieved. “Thanks, Jess.”  
  
Radar was still giving her a scrutinizing look. “Y’know…just because these two timelines don’t have this deviation doesn’t mean another one won’t.”  
  
“Yeah, that’s what I just said. Basically.” I replied, unsure of what he was getting at.  
  
He gestured vaguely between Julia and me. “It’s obvious that Julia’s dimension has some pretty major differences between this one, or ours. So I think we need to head to the source, and see how whacked it really is.”  
  
“Radar, what are you talking about?” Lukas asked, a little impatiently. Radar turned to give him that signature look that managed to be both serious and excited at the same time. “I’m talking about going to the timeline that Julia’s stems from. The one that’s been around the longest. That one will be easiest to navigate, to step back and really look at how it’s different, and how things have changed over time.”  
  
Julia was already shaking her head, looking nervous again. “I told you this back in the In-Between. I don’t want to go to that timeline, I don’t want to see the future. It could be dangerous.”  
  
Lukas, on the other hand, was wearing a very contemplative expression. “That might be a good idea, actually. For all we know, the Prime of that dimension might know about the timelines too. They could help us.”  
  
“Guys, I’m serious. Seeing what happens several months from now might _really_ mess up my or Jess’s timelines. I have a really bad feeling about that particular dimension, and I don’t want to make things worse.” Julia said adamantly.  
  
I hesitated, feeling stuck. I knew that we were about four seconds away from someone looking to me to make a decision, and I wasn’t sure what to think. On one hand, I definitely agreed with Julia- I didn’t want to see what could lay in my future. But on the other side, Lukas and Radar were right as well in that this seemed to be the best course of action.  
  
Sure enough, Radar turned his attention to me. “Jess? What do you think?”  
  
I crossed my arms, scowling slightly. “I don’t know. You’re _both_ right…but, Julia, unless you have an idea of what to do instead, I’d say we should go.”  
  
“But-” she started to object.  
  
“Listen, it’s not that I absolutely love the idea of going there.” I interrupted gently. “It’s just that we really don’t have a clear plan for this whole thing, and that timeline _is_ most likely to have clues.”  
  
She shook her head slowly. “There’s something off about that dimension. I don’t know what, but this is a _bad idea_.”  
  
Lukas gave her a sharp glare. “Worse than what we’ve already been doing? How is this any different from all the other timeline jumping we’ve been doing?”  
  
Julia looked like she was going to yell at him, then closed her mouth again. Her eyes darted over him warily, and I could tell she was trying hard to come up with something he wouldn’t be able to out-logic.  
  
She exhaled, then sat back down on the red-carpeted steps. “Fine. _Fine_. Let’s go to the timeline that could fuck everything up the most. Of course. But we should at least wait for Jacek to come back, so we can be sure he’s actually on our side.”  
  
  
The wait ended up not being as long as I’d expected. Julia had been showing me the ‘exit codes’ of the various timelines when we heard the front door of the Hall shut, and Jacek walked in.  
  
He froze when he saw Radar and Lukas, green eyes going wide.  
  
“You…but I was _just_ talking to you. How did…?”  
  
I stood up. “Right, forgot to mention that. This is the Lukas and Radar of _my_ dimension. And, you two, this is Jacek. The Prime.”  
  
Radar glanced fascinatedly between Jacek and I. “You don’t look anything like each other. How in the Overworld does that even work?”  
  
“I don’t know, you’d have to ask Ivor.” I said shortly. Jacek raised his eyebrows. “Ivor knows about this?”  
  
I indicated Julia. “Her version of him does, at least. I’m not sure about yours, or even mine.” I decided not to add that, even though he knew about the timelines, he wouldn’t be able to help.  
  
“Jace, I’m sorry, but we have to leave.” Julia said apologetically, standing as well. “I’m sure you have questions, and I wish we could stay to explain things more, but…”  
  
“But we have a lead that we need to follow.” Lukas finished decisively. He was giving the Prime a cagey, scrutinizing look, while Jacek assessed him with a curiously stunned sort of expression.  
  
“Oh. Well, that’s too bad. Will you be back?” he asked.  
  
I started to nod, then opted for a shrug. “Possibly. It depends on what happens in the timeline we’re headed to now.”  
  
“If you need help with anything, I’m completely on board.” Jacek offered. “I may not understand all this yet, but I’d like to.”  
  
It puzzled me how easily both he and I had grasped the whole concept of the timelines, while Lukas had fought the knowledge for longer. I wondered if that was a constant, or something to do with us being Primes, or nothing more than a coincidence.  
  
“How do you guys get from one timeline to another, anyways?” Jacek asked. A sneaky smile flitted across Julia’s face, and she retrieved her diamond sword from her inventory.  
  
“Watch and see.”  
  
She briefly glanced at the ‘exit codes’ paper, then slashed the blade elegantly through the air, leaving the glowing white symbols just like before. Jacek gasped in awe as she brought the weapon downward, opening the brilliant white gate.  
  
“That’s…that’s the portal?” he asked.  
  
“They’re called gates, but yeah. This takes us to the In-Between, and we can get to any timeline we want from there.” Julia explained.  
  
He turned his wide eyes on her. “How many timelines _are_ there?”  
  
“Five and a half, not counting the invisible ones that Jess and Julia can apparently see.” Radar said. That really wasn’t the clearest way to say it, but Jacek nodded anyways despite looking a little bemused.  
  
“And don’t worry; this’ll close behind us.” Julia added, as Lukas strode wordlessly forward and disappeared into the white abyss.  
  
Julia and Radar followed him, after quick goodbyes to Jacek. Right before I left, he remarked, “This has been one of the strangest things I’ve learned in a while.”  
  
I pivoted back to face him. “You don’t seem too freaked out about it.”  
  
He shrugged. “I’m not. As you probably know, I’ve been through some pretty weird stuff. And at least I’m being told this now, instead of having to learn it while everything’s completely going to hell.”  
  
I must’ve made some strange expression, because he amended, “Well, it’s not going to hell for me. Though…you guys will come back if anything happens, right? I want to be able to help.”  
  
“I’ll try my best.” I said. “Until then…good luck.”  
  
  
I faced the gate again and stepped through. I wondered momentarily if my wish of good luck would even matter, since I didn’t know if he’d encounter Romeo again. This thought quickly vanished once I appeared in the In-Between, though.  
  
It was different. At first, I couldn’t tell exactly how it was different, it just was. I had never been inherently _aware_ of this strange dimension, but now I was. It hovered at the back of my mind like a watchful ghost, and I shuddered from the strange feeling of it all.  
  
Then I actually bothered to look around. The gates still looked the same as before, but the sky was significantly darker, the almost-evening colours less saturated. The individual blocks below my feet appeared to have tiny cracks running through them, a strange and confusing sight that I didn’t quite know what to make of.  
  
“There you are.” Julia said, beckoning me over to where the three of them stood in front of the gate. Radar was looking up at the sky, one hand holding his glasses in place as he scowled thoughtfully up.  
  
“This place feels weird.” He observed concisely.  
  
Lukas snorted. “What do you expect, being in a place between dimensions?”  
  
“I mean…weirder than normal.” Radar added. “It always felt sort of strange, but now it feels _extra_ strange.”  
  
I wondered what he meant by it always feeling sort of strange, but I didn’t ask. The In-Between was pretty unusual, but it had never really _felt_ like anything before. Now that I thought about it, that was almost more bizarre than if it had felt strange.  
  
I shook my head absent-mindedly, deciding to stop thinking about that before I confused myself to death. Instead, I asked, “So, are we going?”  
  
“Yeah, we might as well.” Julia said resignedly. She’d been examining the sides of the gate with a pensive expression, though I couldn’t think of what she might be looking for. “I just…the whole idea of this dimension makes me wildly uncomfortable.”  
  
“So you said.” Lukas contributed dryly. I shot him a look that he missed. He was acting uncharacteristically bitter, and I wished I knew why. I knew that he was less than thrilled to be on this adventure, but this attitude seemed to go deeper than just that.  
  
“Does that mean one of us needs to go first?” Radar asked.  
  
Julia pushed her shoulders back and straightened her spine. “No, I’m going. I’m just making sure everyone knows that if something goes massively wrong the second we all step into that dimension, I tried to warn you.”  
  
With that, she stepped forward and crossed the threshold, the white glow devouring her lean shape.  
  
“Drama, drama. You going?” Lukas asked me. I sighed slightly, and followed Julia.  
  
The pure, perfect white of the gate surrounded me completely for several seconds, until I stepped out into the new reality. I discovered we were now in a tall spruce forest, the thick trunks of the dark trees towering high above us. The ground was mostly soft, mottled podzol, interrupted here and there with those strange mossy-cobblestone formations.  
  
Julia was looking intently around with her hands on her hips, apparently trying to figure out where we were. I didn’t immediately recognize it, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t.  
  
Lukas appeared a moment later, looking vaguely grumpy. I wondered if Radar had said anything to him before he’d come through, since he hadn’t been wearing that expression a few moments before.  
  
With a sigh, Julia produced a paper from her inventory. “I don’t know where the hell we are. I only have a few blank locator maps, so I didn’t want to use one unless I really had to, but I don’t see another option.”  
  
I watched, only semi-interested, as colours and shapes began spreading across the parchment, showing where we were. I didn’t use locator maps very much, but if the contemplative expression on Julia’s face was any indicator, she knew what she was doing.  
  
Finally, Radar appeared with the rest of us, stepping out of nothingness. He gave the forest the same kind of once-over that I had, then immediately asked, “Where are we?”  
  
“Annoyingly far from Beacontown, that’s where.” Julia replied.  
  
“How far?” he asked.  
  
Scowling down at the map, Julia returned with, “Almost a full day’s hike, from the look of it.”  
  
“Dammit.” Lukas cursed, then seemed to reconsider. “Are we sure we want to go to Beacontown? Maybe there’s somewhere closer that would still be helpful.”  
  
Julia shook her head. “Doesn’t look like it. Plus, Beacontown is the place we’re all most familiar with, and where the Prime will probably be. That’s our best bet.”  
  
She put the map away, looking up at the darkening sky through the high-up layer of spruce leaves. “It might be better to not set out until tomorrow, since it’s almost night. Just so we don’t have to deal with monsters and sleep deprivation while we’re travelling.”  
  
It wasn’t until she said that that I realized how tired I was. I hadn’t slept since before we’d gotten to the Far Lands of Julia’s dimension, and even though it hadn’t been _that_ long, there had been a lot going on.  
  
“I agree. We could all probably do with the rest.” I announced.  
  
Lukas rapped his knuckles gently against one of the giant spruce trees. “We could probably make a pretty good treehouse before it gets too dark.”  
  
I was slightly surprised that he wasn’t arguing with the decision to wait, then instantaneously felt bad that I’d thought that. Another thought occurred to me, and I glanced significantly at Julia.  
  
“Or, our good friend who happens to have _Admin powers_ could put them to good use and save us the time and effort of building one.”  
  
She gave me a halfheartedly reproachful look, but closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were Admin-red again, and with a flick of her fingers, an elegantly simple treehouse had appeared partway up the tree Lukas had indicated. It had a spruce-plank balcony and a ladder reaching down to the ground.  
  
Radar grinned approvingly. “Well, that’s certainly handy. Nice one, Julia.”  
  
Julia, whose eyes had returned to normal, dismissed his praise with a flippant wave of her hand, but she looked pleased. “We should probably take turns keeping watch, since we never know what might show up in this dimension.” She suggested.  
  
Radar, who had already begun climbing the ladder, called down, “Not it!”  
  
“I can take first watch.” Lukas volunteered quietly, raising a hand.  
  
“Good, you do that. Don’t wake me up until it’s _absolutely necessary_.” I ordered, heading up after Radar.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t that simple. Although I fell asleep mere seconds after climbing into bed, I was awake again several hours later.  
  
We’ve all experienced that at some point or another, waking up for no real reason. And of course, once my eyes had opened, I found it impossible to fall back asleep.  
  
Cursing the bright moon and far-below mob noises and everything else I could think of, I sat up and looked around the dark treehouse. Two of the other beds were occupied, but Lukas wasn’t there.  
  
He couldn’t still be on watch, could he? It had been several hours since the rest of us had fallen asleep; why wouldn’t he have woken Julia or Radar to take over?  
  
I pushed the blankets aside and got up, stepping as softly as I could so the wood wouldn’t creak. Julia hadn’t bothered to make a real door on the little structure, just a two-block space that led to the small balcony. That was preferable, actually, since it was a fairly warm night and I was trying to be as noiseless as possible.  
  
Lukas was sitting with his back against the wall, gazing out at the still night. The 3rd-quarter moon was bright enough to allow me to see the melancholically contemplative expression on his face, though I couldn’t begin to guess what it meant.  
  
He looked mutely up at me as I stepped out onto the balcony. As I sat down, he returned to looking into the distance and retained his silence.  
  
We both were quiet for several long minutes. Questions, both idle and burning, kept forming in my mind and bursting before they reached my mouth. I felt like I’d already asked them, already said too much, though I knew I hadn’t really said anything at all.  
  
It felt like an eternity before he finally spoke, in a voice as quiet and soft as the velvet sky above us.  
  
“We’re making a mistake.”  
  
I turned my head slightly to look at him, though he didn’t look back. “A little late for that, don’t you think?”  
  
He made no motion, no shake of his head or twitch of his hands, except for the subtle movement of his mouth. “I don’t care if it’s too late. This is a mistake.”  
  
“What mistake are you referring to, exactly?”  
  
As he replied, I was beginning to get the feeling that his uncanny stillness was intentional. “All of this. Leaving Beacontown. Getting involved with the timelines. Everything. Don’t you feel it, Jess? We’re messing with things we shouldn’t be.”  
  
I didn’t, in fact, _feel it_. This was just another adventure, one that didn’t feel any more right or wrong than anything else that had happened to me. I did not get a chance to say this, though, because he continued.  
  
“I was all for this, at first, but I can’t ignore it anymore. There’s something seriously messed up going on, and I feel like we’re right in the middle of it. This isn’t going to end well, and I know you can’t see it because you’re so wrapped up in the whole ‘adventure’ thing that you’re getting completely lost in it. And I know this is just a _you_ thing and I can’t really do anything about it, but I’m telling you right now that we are going to end up neck-deep in danger pretty soon and you’re not going to be able to get us out.”  
  
  
I stared at him, dumbfounded. The faintly-aggressive outpouring of words wasn’t entirely out of character for him, but the words themselves were. What in the Overworld was he talking about?  
  
“Lukas…” I started hesitantly, unsure of what I was actually going to say.  
  
He shook his head. “No. Jess, don’t even start. I know you’re gonna tell me that I’m not making sense and that I’m just paranoid, because we’ve had this fight before. I’m telling you, this is _different_.”  
  
I didn’t say anything. He was right in that I didn’t understand, and that we had indeed had this argument before, but that didn’t help me get what he meant by this adventure being ‘different’.  
  
He shook his head, seeming somewhat distracted. “Take a metaphorical step back and really look at where we are, Jess. We’re in another dimension, the third we’ve visited this week. What are we even trying to do? Why are we trusting the person who’s ‘leading’ us? What’s really going on here? I don’t have answers to any of those questions, and I’m sure you don’t either.”  
  
Lukas shifted his position on the floor, bringing one of his knees up to his chest and resting his elbow on it. He was still staring resolutely forward. “I just keep thinking back to the Witherstorm, when our world was in danger and we were just a bunch of kids out to stop it. We didn’t know what to do, and we were just making things up as we went along. But there was a _goal_. There were clues, and people to tell us where we were screwing up. There was a villain, and obstacles, and all the things that made it the perfect little story it was. Things made sense, and even when we had no idea what we were doing, we _did_, in a way.”  
  
“And…?” I prompted, still confused.  
  
“And we don’t know what the _fuck_ is going on here.” He said, tossing one of his hands in the air. His voice was still quiet, but it radiated an intensity and deep-rooted anger that I didn’t know what to do with. “We know someone’s messing with the timelines, but we don’t know who, or why, or how, and we don’t know how the hell to figure any of that out. We keep coming across things we don’t know, and no ways of finding out. It’s a _mess_. It’s a colossal fucking mess, and I’m sick of being the only one that realizes that.”  
  
I waited to see if he would say anything more, but he didn’t. Lukas reverted back to the perfect chilly silence, glaring into the night and leaving his upset words hanging in the air.  
  
“Why are you being like this?” I whispered. He finally looked at me, blue eyes alight with anger, and I continued speaking before he had a chance to get too mad.  
  
“When did you get so…_hopeless_? I mean, I know you’re not the biggest fan of jumping into things before getting answers, but you usually don’t get this desperate. What happened?”  
  
The anger flickered out, and he set his jaw. “Why does something have to happen?” he asked stiffly. “Can’t I just…get sick of everything being so difficult?”  
  
“Because I know you, Lukas. You don’t get like this _just because_. What changed?” I snapped. My voice was slightly too loud in contrast to the grave-still night, but I didn’t notice.  
  
He looked away again, still tense. I paused for a second, trying to sort out what made this adventure so different than any of our previous ones, searching for a reason why he’d be so upset.  
  
“Is this…because we’re alone in this? Because we don’t have the rest of the Order to add pessimism, so you feel you have to do it yourself?” I guessed, a little sardonically.  
  
The corner of his mouth twitched downward, but he didn’t say anything. This was wildly unusual, for him to switch that rapidly between an angry outburst and the silent treatment.  
  
The uncomfortable quiet stretched on a little too long, and I was beginning to feel like poking him to get him to say something. He finally shifted his position again, then sighed.  
  
  
“Fine. You wanna know ‘what happened’? I’ll tell you what fucking happened.”  
  
I blinked, somewhat surprised. It was always dubiously productive to pressure Lukas into talking when he didn’t want to, and I hadn’t expected him to actually open up this time.  
  
“Alright, yeah, that’d be helpful.” I replied hesitantly.  
  
Despite both our words, it took another few moments before he simply said, “Petra.”  
  
I didn’t say a word; hardly breathed, even. The look on his face had transformed into a complicated one, mixed of pain and defeat. I got the feeling that this story wasn’t just some simple explanation, it was something that had been weighing on Lukas for a while, something that he needed to share.  
  
“It’s Petra. Ever since she left, things have been different. If she can be so completely gone from my life, _anything_ can. I’ve felt this weird kind of hopelessness ever since she left.” He said quietly.  
  
“Ever…since she left Beacontown?” I guessed inaccurately, trying to gently prompt him to say more.  
  
Lukas shook his head. “Left _me_,” he clarified. “Ever since, about six or so months ago, I told her to leave and she did.”  
  
“I think you better back up and actually explain yourself.” I said, somewhat awkwardly, after another moment of silence.  
  
“Yeah, I know.” He dragged a deep breath in, collecting his thoughts or simply preparing to speak- I didn’t know which.  
  
“Petra and I actually started dating around three years ago. We didn’t tell you or the rest of the Order for various reasons, but we were together.” he started.  
  
Three _years_? That would’ve been around the time we all stopped going adventuring together as the Order. It wasn’t an official split, like after the defeat of the Admin, but that was the beginning of our group’s slow separation. I couldn’t help but wonder if the timing was coincidental or not.  
  
“Everything was…really good for a while. Looking back, I realize that us spending all our time together probably only helped drive the Order apart, but we didn’t know it at the time. We thought we were the ultimate power couple. We had our disagreements, like we always did, but it was okay because we were in love and we worked through it.”  
  
He smiled slightly as he said the last few sentences, though it was more of a wistful, left-behind remnant of a smile than a real one.  
  
“There was one argument we had that just kept cropping up. It started after we’d only been together for a few weeks, and it was what ended up driving us apart. It wasn’t really…it wasn’t that much of an issue, and it didn’t usually escalate into fights, but it was an ongoing debate that we just couldn’t manage to settle. Anyways, we-”  
  
“Hold on.” I interrupted quietly, a slow feeling of foreboding condensing in my chest. He glanced at me again.  
  
“What exactly was that disagreement?” I asked seriously.  
  
He stared at me for a moment more, then let his eyes drop to the wood planks we were sitting on. This only intensified the feeling that he was hiding something.  
  
“What was it, Lukas? You two don’t have long-term arguments, at least you didn’t when you were just friends. What could’ve possibly…?”  
  
“How best to leave the Order.” Lukas admitted, swift and quiet.  
  
Now it was my turn to stare at him again, my heart a slow, dull, thunderclap in my ears. “What?”  
  
“We…we were thinking about _leaving_. Going away and not looking back. But we never figured out how. She wanted to…well, kind of do what she did. Pack up our shit, skip town in the night, and never come back. No goodbyes, no letters, no strings. Disappearing into the world with nothing but each other. I told her no, again and again. That to do that would be to worry the others to death and break their hearts.”  
  
He sighed again. “I wanted to do it ‘right’. I agreed that I wanted to go, to start fresh and make our own life without the whole _hero_ thing weighing us down, but I didn’t want to just disappear. I wanted to be able to stay in contact with you, and to still publish my books, and all those other little things. If I’d just ran off with her like she wanted, none of this would’ve happened.”  
  
I was still a little stuck on the very first claim. “You two wanted to just go? Leave us, and everything else behind?”  
  
“…Yeah. We did. Neither of us wanted to stick around and watch our friendships slowly turn to dust; we wanted to be long gone. Instead, we never figured it out, and had to see when it all went down exactly like we _didn’t_ want it to.”  
  
My heart had suddenly turned to stone, weighing me down and preventing me from feeling anything but heavy sadness. Lukas didn’t pause for longer than a breath, as though once the story had started, it wasn’t going to stop until it was over.  
  
“Even though we never left Beacontown, we were happy for quite a while. Our lives were good. But…time went on, and little things became larger issues, and our differences started feeling bigger, and everything just got more difficult, somehow. Then about six, seven months ago- which made it around three before the whole Admin mess -we got into a fight. It started out as the same old ‘are we ever gonna get out of this tedious life’ thing, but we were both being bitchy about it, and some nasty things were said, and I was mad enough that I started being irrational…and I told her that if she was so hellbent on escaping this life, she could leave on her own.”  
  
Lukas’s voice had been growing heavier and quieter until he finally went silent. I watched his bowed head and tense hands as I said, “And she did.”  
  
It could’ve been a question had I not already known the answer. His blond head bobbed once; a replying nod cut in half. “Yeah. She packed her stuff, and she stomped out, and I didn’t see her until that ‘night’ in Beacontown when the Admin was attacking.”  
  
I knew most of what had happened from there, but I didn’t stop his continued explanation. “It wasn’t long after the fight before I’d calmed down enough to realize how much I’d screwed up. I knew that I’d pushed her too far, and should never have said what I did. But I couldn’t bring myself to track her down and apologize, for fear of making things worse. Then the guilt started to set in, and I…I just couldn’t bear even _thinking_ of being around her, after what I’d done. I’d driven her away, and I wouldn’t deserve her forgiveness even if she chose to give it. I missed her like crazy, but…but I felt too bad to do anything about it.”  
  
“That’s why you two wouldn’t even look at each other back in Romeo’s ice challenge thing, and why it seemed like you were avoiding even being in the same room before that.” I pieced together. He nodded again.  
  
“Yeah. That’s why.”  
  
  
Lukas abruptly sat more upright, straightening his back against the treehouse wall. “But honestly? It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s been almost seven months, and we’re past the point of fixing things. I’m with Aiden now, and I don’t care if Petra’s still mad at me or not. It doesn’t matter.”  
  
I raised an eyebrow, caught a little off-guard by this. “Really? You don’t think…?”  
  
“Don’t think what?”  
  
I cleared my throat meaningfully. “You don’t think maybe Aiden’s just a replacement for Petra? That she’s out of your life for now, so you turn to the next best thing? I’m just saying, if that’s _not_ the case, then you just have one hell of a ‘type’.”  
  
He gave me a well-practiced scowl of warning. “I thought we already talked about this. My relationship with Aiden isn’t your business or your problem.”  
  
I was too tired to get mad, so my words didn’t contain the venom they might’ve had if I was more rested. “Alright, yeah, it’s not. But looking at the two of them and their histories with you, I can’t help but think you have a habit of falling for people who are only gonna hurt you, either physically or emotionally.”  
  
He looked away briefly, then returned to glaring at me. I sighed. “Like you said earlier, try taking a metaphorical step back. You may be the one _realizing_ we’re making a mistake here, but don’t start thinking that makes you exempt from faults.”  
  
The glower lingered a few seconds longer, then Lukas stood up. His voice was quiet, but it didn’t need to be louder than the whisper it was to carry all the menace it did. “You can make all the judgements you want, but that doesn’t validate them. I’m done caring about what you think, Jess.”  
  
  
Stepping around me, he went into the little house, leaving me alone again with the sudden night breeze and the swirling, tumultuous cloud of my thoughts.  
  
_Goddammit. That did not end the way it was supposed to._


	14. Dark Omens

When we rose the next morning, neither Lukas nor I acknowledged the conversation of the previous night. Actually, even more than that- he pretended like it had never happened.

The two of us hardly even spoke as we left the treehouse and began the long trek towards Beacontown. Julia and Radar still had plenty of things to say to each other and both of us, but I didn’t have too much to say back. Apparently Lukas felt the same, at least at first.

It didn’t help that, the further we got in our journey, the more I felt like something was wrong. It started as a faint uncomfortable feeling, a tiny instinct that someone was watching us or something like that. The instinct didn’t leave as we exited the spruce forest and ventured through a savanna.

Julia, again, was leading confidently, studying her locater map every so often. Radar had asked her if she could just teleport us there with her Admin powers, but she’d winced and apologetically said she hadn’t gained that particular ability.

Despite this, she seemed to be in pretty good spirits, which made me think the suspicious feeling was unique to me.

We walked for hours, through plains and forests and everything in-between. There were a few times we had to build small bridges over rivers, but for the most part, the trip was pleasantly uneventful. Aside, of course, from my anxious feeling of dread that slowly worsened the closer we got to our goal.

Julia and Radar struck up a lively debate that I only partially listened to, but that kept them entertained for quite a bit of the journey. They eventually pulled Lukas into the conversation as well, and, to my surprise, he seemed content to add his opinions without starting any new conflicts with Julia.

I had difficulty focusing on whatever topic they were so enthusiastic about. I was lost in my own little world for most of the time, deep down in layers of worried thoughts.

Something felt _off_ about this timeline. I remembered that Julia had said that earlier, multiple times, but now it was me who was feeling that way. The uncomfortable sensation of anxious doubt settled heavily into my chest, making me feel almost like I was poisoned.

This made me slightly jumpy, and I kept thinking I saw strange things that weren’t really there when I fully turned to look. The others didn’t seem to notice this; or if they did, they chose not to say anything.

Finally, things began steadily looking more and more familiar, and Julia cheerily announced that we were less than an hour away from Beacontown. We were approaching the town from the south, which was not a direction I usually travelled in, though the floating tower was impossible to mistake even from a distance.

A storm was rolling in on the horizon when the crimson walls finally came into view. It intensified my feeling of worry even more, like even the sky was preparing for something bad to happen.

It struck me as fairly strange that the walls around the town were still red, since both Julia and I had changed ours. Radar pointed this out in a thoughtful voice, but he seemed more curious than worried.

Then we entered the gates, and _worried_ didn’t even begin to describe the way I felt.

It was different. So phenomenally different that I had a brief, irrational thought that we weren’t in Beacontown at all. Some of the most distinctive buildings near the front of town were completely gone, reduced to rubble by who knows what. As I looked around, I noticed that it wasn’t just near the gates; there were wrecked buildings all over the place.

A lot of the untouched ones looked unusually dark and well-fortified, something that was such a far cry from my own Beacontown that I almost laughed from the strangeness of it all. At home, a lot of things were purely decorative- the more colourful and unique a build was, the better. But here, all of that was stripped away.

The people didn’t walk casually down the streets, rather they slunk from shadow to shadow. A lot of the others I saw seemed rough and dangerous, bristling with strange weapons and giving each other (and us) untrusting looks. I didn’t see anyone I recognized, though this place was already so different that I wasn’t sure if I would have been able to identify someone even if I had known them back in my own Beacontown.

It was Lukas who finally said it, as we walked cautiously along the side of the main street, trying not to attract attention.

“What the hell happened here?”

We paused in the shadow of a tall stone-brick building. “I have no idea.” I said. “This place is insane.”

“Okay, well, let’s theorize.” Radar suggested, a little nervously.

Julia tapped her chin, frowning. “Maybe…this timeline’s Prime never defeated Romeo?”

Lukas glanced around again, then shook his head. “No, that can’t be it. This place doesn’t look like it did when Romeo was in charge, and it doesn’t have the same…_feeling_, if you will. Plus, I was looking at this timeline’s gate earlier, and I caught a glimpse of the Prime fighting Romeo with the golden gauntlet.”

“Is it possible that this Prime’s just…evil or something? Or…maybe she’s, I don’t know, gone.” Radar said quietly. Julia gave him a slightly alarmed look.

“You think she might be dead?”

Radar shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “Possibly? I mean, look at this place. Does it look like someone like you or Jess is in charge here?”

“What if…” I started. “What if the Prime is alive, but she’s not here? Remember, we’re technically in the future. What if the Prime went with Petra when she left Beacontown, and some new villain took over?” I guessed.

Julia’s worried expression turned dark. “That’s…shit, you might be onto something. This definitely isn’t the Beacontown we know, and if the Prime really did leave…”

“…it wouldn’t be too hard for it to devolve into something like _this_.” Lukas finished for her, gesturing vaguely to the main street.

“So then, what do we do?” Radar inquired. “How are we supposed to find anything out?”

Frowning thoughtfully as she surveyed what we could see of the town, Julia said, “Maybe there’ll still be clues, or someone who can help us. If we can track down someone we know, they could hopefully tell us some things about the Prime.”

“But I thought it wasn’t a good idea to tell other people about the timelines.” I pointed out. “Obviously, us Primes are an exception, but I found something in Ivor’s research that made it seem like people knowing about all this could end up destabilizing things even more.”

Radar, who had been gnawing furiously at his lower lip, added, “But what else are we supposed to do? If we can’t talk to people…”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t talk to anyone; it just means we can’t tell them about the timelines.” Lukas corrected.

He said something else about constants, but my attention had been diverted by a lithe woman with long chestnut-brown hair who stood across the street. I didn’t recognize her, but there was something about the way she stood that made her seem vaguely familiar. I did not feel like I _knew_ her, like with Julia and Jacek, so I knew she wasn’t a Prime, but there was still something discomforting in the instinct that I’d seen her before.

Of course, she was also made more unsettling by the fact that she was watching us quite intently.

I glanced away quickly, ducking my head. “Guys, I think if we’re going to keep talking about this, we need to go somewhere more inconspicuous. There’s…”

I looked back at the strange woman, but she was gone. I blinked and glanced around, unsure if I was seeing right. Where had she possibly gone in the fifteen seconds that I’d been looking away?

“What?” Lukas asked. I didn’t answer, still scanning the streets for the auburn-haired woman.

“You four aren’t from around here, are you?” an unfamiliar voice asked in a silky tone.

We all jumped and whirled around, to see a person step out of the shadows of a building near us. It was, of course, the woman I’d just noticed watching us. Now that she was closer, I noticed that her brown hair had an odd purpleish tinge to it, as though it had been dyed violet but faded out.

She smiled slightly at our surprise, and though it should’ve been a friendly gesture, it seemed full of sharp edges and poison. “You must’ve noticed that you…stick out, somewhat. Beacontown doesn’t get many newcomers these days.”

“Uh…um, yeah, you’re right. W-we’re new.” Julia stammered. The woman’s smile widened, becoming slightly more genuine, and I noticed that her grey eyes had a faintly purple tint as well.

“Well, then you’d have no way to know that being out on the streets without someone looking out for you is _not_ such a good idea. Any kinds of dangerous things like to roam around here.” The way she said the second sentence subtly implied that _she_ was one of said ‘dangerous things’. “What are your names?”

Julia quickly introduced us all. “This is Jess, Lukas, and Radar, and my name’s Julia.”

The woman nodded slowly, but before she said anything else, Radar- who was looking out at the town again -asked, “What happened here? I didn’t expect Beacontown to be so…dismal.”

I wanted to tell him to be more careful with his words, but the woman sighed and said, “This town has been through some dark times, especially in the last few months. It is not the illustrious place it used to be.”

She spoke as though she’d been here in the town’s glory days, but if she had been a Beacontown resident for that long, shouldn’t I recognize her? I was proud to say that I was familiar with most of my town’s people, especially the ones who had been there long-term. So if she was one of them, why didn’t I know who she was?

Unless, of course…she wasn’t in my Beacontown, just this one. But if that was the case, _why_?

My thoughts were interrupted by the stranger saying, “You should come with me; I’ll take you to the woman in charge. I’ve got a bad feeling there’ll be another attack soon, and she’ll be able to keep you safe.”

“Attack?” Lukas echoed. She nodded.

“Rebels and whatnot. Like I said, things have gone intensely downhill recently.” She turned to go, gesturing for us to follow. We did, but hesitantly.

I grasped Julia’s elbow, forcing her to hang back a few steps from the others. “I don’t think I like this. Who _is_ she? And who the hell is in charge of this place?”

She nodded. “It looks more and more like you were right; there’s no way the Prime is here. But I think if we’re gonna get answers, we’ll have to just go along with this.”

“But we’ve got no idea what’s going on, and if we get tricked or trapped or something, we’ll be completely vulnerable.” I said, scowling.

Julia glanced nervously ahead at the auburn-haired woman who appeared to be leading us towards the Order Hall. “I know, Jess, and I hate that. We’ve just gotta be vigilant, and pray we’re not walking into a trap. I think this lady _is_ trying to help us, though, so maybe we’ll be okay.”

I chose not to voice my earlier suspicious thoughts about this supposedly-helpful stranger. She seemed genuine enough, but there was still something off about her, little details that didn’t match up, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

I quickly forgot about all of this, though, when I got a good look at the Order Hall. In my Beacontown, it was a beautiful structure, the exterior glimmering with stained glass and quartz, with the defining gold symbol above the main entrance.

In this twisted version of the town, it was a ruin.

Most of the roof was gone, caved in devastatingly in multiple spots. Gigantic sections of the walls were gone, and many of the remaining glass blocks were cracked beyond repair.

The unknown woman must’ve noticed my expression of horror, because she grimly said, “It was destroyed in one of the first rebel attacks. None of us are happy with the way things have gone, but this kind of mass destruction…? It’s senseless, and horrible.”

She sighed. “Luckily, we still managed to adapt.”

Two unfamiliar people were standing on either side of where the doors used to be, though they let us pass without so much as a word. If the Hall was still this new leader’s headquarters, then this woman must be fairly familiar with them. Several iron trapdoors covered a large gap in the floor, which opened to reveal a large downward-leading stairway when the brown-haired woman threw a nearby lever.

“Down this way.” She beckoned, already starting down the stairs. Julia and Lukas followed her slowly, and Radar and I trailed behind after exchanging a slightly anxious glance.

“The leader…lives _below_ the Hall?” Julia asked.

The stranger nodded. “She and all her closest allies. Beacontown is unpredictable, so it’s safer to not _really_ be in the town at all. No one thinks to look for us here.”

The stairs opened up into a vast underground room, lit with Redstone lamps. Dim tunnels led off to the unknown, and I could hear faint voices echoing out from some of them.

A tall man came out of one of these tunnels, hurrying towards us. His short, scruffy brown hair was pushed stubbornly away from his forehead, and a dark red bandana was tied over his mouth. His nose looked like it had been broken once or twice, and an ugly scar stretched up from the right side of his jaw to just below his eye. “Selle, where have you been? Forces are heading towards the gates; there’s-”

“Going to be another attack, I know.” She said smoothly.

He gave us a scrutinizing look, dark eyebrows furrowing over his green eyes. “Who’re these?” His voice was slightly muffled by the bandana, but I could swear I recognized it.

“Newcomers to Beacontown. We need to get them to _her_, so they’ll be safe during the raid. You know how ugly things can get.” The chestnut-haired woman said. As she spoke, she made several significant motions with her hands, as though signaling something to him that she didn’t want to say aloud.

This immediately put my suspicions on high alert, especially as the man’s expression darkened and he nodded once. “Well, they chose a great time to show up. We don’t have time to deal with this right now, not with-”

“You know full well our leader’s priorities.” she interrupted. Her voice had dropped slightly, taking on an ominous tone. “Dealing with the rebels is important, yes, but she has made it very clear that if there are those that haven’t been sucked into this town’s darkness, they are to be protected. She will want to know they’re here.”

He scowled at her for a moment, but his next words were lost to a tremendous crash from somewhere above us.

Radar yelped. “What was that? What’s going on?”

The scarred man practically growled. “We’re outta time. Come on.”

He darted towards one of the tunnels, a different one than he’d come out of. There was a wooden button on the wall beside the entrance that he pressed before going inside. The auburn woman followed, her face a tight mask of mixed emotions.

She gestured for us to come with. “I’m not sure if they know that our base is down here, but they haven’t gotten to us yet. That doesn’t mean we’re completely safe, though.”

The tunnel, despite not being very tall, was fairly wide, with other passageways branching off here and there. It seemed like there was a whole network of these underground alleys, leading off to all corners of the base. I wondered who had taken the time to dig out and build all this.

Another woman appeared out of one of these side tunnels, stopping short when she saw us. She was a little shorter than the scarred man, but quite a bit taller than me. She had long black hair that fell slightly in the way of her slanted brown eyes, and she too wore a kerchief over her mouth. Her lavender t-shirt had several holes in it, and the knees of her faded blue jeans were similarly tattered.

She glanced between us and the brown-haired woman a few times, her eyes resting perceptively on me for longer than the others. I stared back uncertainly, not sure if I recognized her or not. The bandana hid nearly half her face, but there was something uncanny about her eyes that seemed vaguely familiar.

The auburn woman made a strange signal with her hand, and the newcomer nodded knowingly. I was getting the feeling that this group had a whole language of hand motions and significant looks.

Another loud crash shook the tunnels, making me almost lose my footing. The second woman’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at the ceiling, alight with a betrayed sort of hostility. “We need to go.” She murmured.

Her voice was quiet and serious, with a commanding undertone. The brown-haired woman straightened her back, having almost been knocked over by the explosion above. “We’re almost there,” she told us as we continued hurrying down the tunnel.

My instinct that something wasn’t right was only intensifying. I suddenly realized that we didn’t have any clear way to know what was really going on- if we were in the hands of villains, it was too late to find out the truth.

Beside me, Lukas was wearing an expression of intense concentration. It was impossible to know what exactly he was thinking about, but if the suspicious way he was looking at the dark-haired woman was any indication, he wasn’t any surer about our situation than I was.

“Where are we going?” Julia asked in a hushed voice.

“Right through here.” The auburn woman said, pausing and flicking a lever that opened an iron door set into the side of the tunnel. She held the door open while the second woman went through, gesturing for us to follow. The room inside was barren, with an obsidian floor and two smaller tunnel entrances visible on the far side.

The second woman made a beeline for one of the other tunnels, but before I could follow, a hand suddenly clamped down on my shoulder. I spun around to see Lukas staring wide-eyed at me. “Wait, Jess.”

“What?” I asked. Julia and Radar also paused, waiting to hear what he had to say.

Lukas’s nervous eyes were darting between me and Julia. “This isn’t right. None of this is right, there’s something fishy going on. I don’t know what-all is happening, but we _definitely_ do not want to be here.”

“Why? What happened?” Julia asked.

The blond man gulped, giving her a cagey, almost scared look. “She’s the Prime.”

“_What?!_” Radar gasped.

“That woman with the black hair; she’s the Prime. I told you, I was looking at this gate earlier, and even though it took me a bit to recognize her with the mask, I _know_ it’s her. She’s the Prime, which means-”

We didn’t get to find out what he thought it meant, though, because while we were standing there discussing her, the second woman- _the Prime? _-had crossed the room and thrown a lever attached to the wall between the two tunnels.

Instantly, hidden pistons lifted a section of obsidian, creating a wall between us and her. I turned in shock to the door we’d come through, but I only had a second to see that it was shut before another row of pistons pushed up a second wall.

We had walked straight into a trap.


	15. An Unfortunate Enemy

I stared in astonishment at the row of obsidian blocks in front of me, penning us in. I couldn’t believe we’d managed to be tricked that easily, but we had.

“No! What the hell!” Julia yelled. She pounded a fist against the pitch-black blocks, though she had to have known it wouldn’t do any good. Nothing could break through obsidian but a diamond pickaxe, and though none of us were exactly _low_ on supplies, that was one thing we didn’t have.

I glanced between the obsidian wall, to Julia, to Radar’s panicked face, back to the wall again. “I…think you were right, Lukas.” I said quietly. “We appear to have just made a _massive_ mistake.”

There was a one-block tall gap in the obsidian, slightly above my eye level, that stretched from one end of the wall to the other. It was just enough that I could see the closed iron door we’d come through, but when Lukas tried to reach his hand through, he was stopped by an unseen force.

Barrier blocks. We really were stuck.

The iron door briefly opened, and the taller woman with the long black hair appeared. She still had the bandana over her mouth, but now that I had an idea of who she was, she seemed much more familiar, in that strange way that the other two Primes had been.

She leaned on the obsidian wall, peering into the new prison at us. Her expression was complicated, some strange mix of sympathy and authority. “Please, don’t get the wrong idea. This really is for your own safety; my timeline is much more of a mess than any of you could understand.”

Before I’d even fully processed what she’d said, she turned away again and went back out through the iron door. As she left, a man with crimson-red hair stood with his back to the door, apparently standing guard.

Julia and I exchanged a nervous look. Radar, on the other hand, was frowning thoughtfully.

“She really _is_ the Prime.” he murmured.

“I already said that.” Lukas objected. Radar shook his head, then reached up and adjusted his glasses.

“Did you hear what she said? ‘_My timeline_’. Not this timeline, or my world. I doubt she would’ve worded it like that if she wasn’t the Prime.”

Julia reached up and tugged on her braid. “Shit. This is _bad_.”

“What does this _mean_?” I asked. “If Beacontown looks like _this,_ but the Prime is still here…”

Lukas shook his head slowly, staring at the obsidian floor. “I don’t know, I have no idea. And then who are said ‘rebels’? Why do we not recognize the people who are apparently closest to the Prime? What the hell _happened_ here?”

“…And how do we find any of that out?” Radar added.

I didn’t say anything to that, because there was nothing _to_ say. Like I’d realized earlier, if we really were in the hands of villains, we may not be able to figure out the truth. It’s not like we could just ask them, ‘hey, are you by any chance the villains in this crazy little adventure?’.  
  


“On the other hand, what if this Prime really is on our side? I mean, I’m not saying I think she is, but what if she actually does just want to help us?” Lukas asked. I could tell by his expression that he didn’t really believe his own words but was playing devil’s advocate anyways.

Julia snorted. “Yeah, by locking us in an obsidian prison? If she really does have our best interests at heart, wouldn’t she have just _told_ us what was going on instead of locking us in here?”

Radar let out a nervous sigh. “Right. Then I guess it’s safe to say that this Prime won’t be too keen on helping us figure out the missing constant or telling us anything remotely helpful.”

“See, what’s bothering me the most is the fact that we don’t know the other two people we saw. They _should_ be in our timeline as well, right?” Lukas said, leaning back against the wall and gesturing vaguely to me.

“Maybe…but we don’t know what actually _happened_ here.” Radar pointed out. “All we know is that we’re three months in the future and this place isn’t anything like our own Beacontown. We can’t rule out the possibility that they’re people we just haven’t met yet.”

I scowled. “I…don’t know. You heard how that woman was talking; she made it seem like she’d been a Beacontown resident for a long time. But since none of us recognize her…it’s too suspicious. I think there’s something _highly_ fishy going on.”

“This is exactly why I didn’t want to come to this timeline.” Julia muttered. Lukas’s eyes narrowed, but before he said anything, Julia turned around again and smacked a fist against the obsidian, hollering at the guard standing on the other side of the iron door. “Hey, you! Why the hell are we being kept in here? What does your creepy boss want from us?!”

The red-haired guard turned around to face her, glaring through the ‘window’ in the door. I reeled back in shock as I realized that, unlike the others we’d met, he wasn’t a stranger. Far from it- he was none other than _Romeo_, the reformed Admin whom I’d banished back to the Underneath.

His voice was cold and detached- but still with the familiar lilt of his accent -as he said, “I can’t and won’t tell you anything. Essa told me to make sure you stayed in there, and that is what I’m doing. It’s not up to me to answer any of your meaningless questions.”

The words only partially sunk into my brain, since I was still a little stuck on the fact that the former Admin was standing right there. Based on the stunned expressions that Lukas and Radar wore, I wasn’t the only one.

Romeo turned back around and continued ignoring us, while Julia bemusedly examined our surprised faces. “What? Yeah, he was a jerk, but that’s not really…”

I shook my head. “Julia, that’s…that’s _Romeo_. The Admin.”

She spun around to stare at him again, though now all that could be seen was the back of his head. “He’s _what?_ How?!”

“This Prime not only saved him, but allowed him to stay in Beacontown? That seems…strangely softhearted.” Lukas commented. Julia gave him a baffled look.

“_Saved_ him? But…he died! He lost his powers, and the Prismarine Colossus came after him, and he’s _dead_!” she exclaimed, looking thoroughly alarmed.

Shaking his head, Lukas told her, “Not in our timeline. Jess brought him with us.” He gave me a look that bordered on judgmental, but I ignored it.

“But…t-the Colossus…” Julia stammered.

Radar puffed out his chest. “I led that giant Enderman into the Terminal Space, and the two of them duked it out.”

“Still kinda wish I could’ve seen who won that fight.” I added, and Radar flashed me a brief grin.

Julia rubbed her forehead. “This is so confusing. Why in the Overworld do there have to be so many freaking deviations.”

Lukas let out a disdainful huff. “Julia, if we knew that, this entire quest would be over already.”

\----

It was more than an hour before anyone paid any attention to the four new prisoners in the obsidian cell. We talked idly for a while, theorizing about the timelines in general and the strangeness of this particular dimension, but eventually settled into a nervous, uncomfortable silence.

We heard more noises from above, the certain sounds of a fierce battle. At one point I could’ve sworn I heard Jack’s voice, shouting something in a voice full of rage and fear, but we were deep enough underground that I couldn’t be sure.

I was aware of the sounds of other people moving through the tunnels as well. There seemed to be quite a number of others down here, all loyal to the woman we assumed was the Prime.  
Romeo had said he took orders from someone named ‘Essa’…but was that the Prime? I doubted it, since the rest of the Primes’ names, including mine, started with a J. Maybe Essa was the brown-haired woman, since she seemed to hold a position of power as well.

Finally, after the aboveground noises had quieted, two people appeared through the iron door after dismissing Romeo. I was not surprised to see that it was the elegant brown-haired woman and the scarred man.

The man still had the kerchief over his mouth and looked significantly scruffier than earlier. I assumed he’d been part of the fight above, especially since he was in the process of bandaging a bloody cut on his arm when he walked in.

The woman, on the other hand, looked just the same as before, if a bit more smug. I studied her face carefully, trying to figure out if I knew her and she’d simply slipped my memory. But no luck- there was nothing about her that seemed distinctly familiar, not her faintly-purple eyes or the galaxy of freckles dotting her cheeks.

Julia immediately lunged forward, putting her face right up to the gap in the obsidian. “Who are you, and what do you want with us?!” she demanded.

The man hung back in the shadows, but the brown-haired woman stepped closer, giving her a coolly unruffled look. “What we _want_ is for you to stay out of our way.” she said, apparently ignoring the first half of the question.

“Out of your way for _what_? What were we doing that qualified as getting in the way?” Lukas asked, significantly more calmly than Julia.

The scarred man let out a hostile noise that sounded almost like a growl. “Fucking around with the timelines, that’s what.”

“We’re not messing with them! We’re trying to _fix_ them!” Radar objected, not even questioning why or how they knew about the timelines.

The woman grinned predatorily. “That’s the point, kiddo. My word, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you properly. You’ve certainly gotten tall.”

Radar stepped back. “You know me?” he asked in a voice that, to his credit, quavered only slightly.

She inclined her head, the smile fading a little. “Well, this timeline’s version of you, anyways. Who has apparently made some…very different choices, it seems.”

“What do you mean?” Lukas asked.

Again, it was the scarred man who answered him. “She means that our version of him turned on us and disappeared, only to go and join the rebels. Essa was _not_ pleased.”

The reappearance of the name Essa seemed to imply that it did, in fact, belong to the Prime and not the brown-haired woman, but I was temporarily distracted by the man’s voice. I _knew_ that voice, I was sure of it. It was still muffled by the bandana and sounded a little angrier and coarser than I knew it to be, but his tone matched that of someone I’d spoken to recently.

If only I could figure out who.

“But is that…a deviation, or something that just happens later?” Julia asked quietly, seeming like she hadn’t mean to say it aloud.

The brown-haired woman’s mouth turned up again. “That, my friend, is an excellent question.”

Now it was Julia’s turn to let out an angry huff. “That’s pretty rich; locking us up in an obsidian prison cell and then calling us _friends_.”

The other woman nodded agreeably. “Maybe so, but I seem to be lacking a better word at the moment. Because although you may not see us as friends, that doesn’t mean we need to be enemies.”

She spread her arms in a benevolent sort of gesture. “I promise you; we are just trying to do what’s best. Like Essa told you, this timeline is very, very different from either of yours. It’s dangerous, especially since the events that changed this place haven’t yet happened to yours.”

Radar went very still. “You mean…all this insanity, the rebels and the destruction and everything…that_ is_ going to happen to our Beacontown?” he asked, voice cracking from nerves.

The woman nodded sagely. “Very soon, if I’m right.”

“But there must be some way to stop it! We can’t let our Beacontown become like _this_!” Radar exclaimed, looking worriedly at me.

“But we can’t change it, either. That would just make more deviations and throw things even _more_ out of balance.” objected Lukas.

Another solemn nod from the chestnut-haired woman. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. It’s quite the conundrum.”  
  


“Wait.” I interjected. “How do any of you even know about the timelines? Why do you know so much about _my_ timeline?”

The pair of violet-grey eyes assessed me for several moments before the woman spoke in a frigid and faintly haughty voice. “Essa, our Prime, has been studying the timelines for many years. I have been helping her. At this point, I believe there is little we _don’t_ know about them.”

This seemed immediately suspicious to me, but I chose to keep my mouth shut. I got the feeling that this woman didn’t trust me in particular, though I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps because I was a Prime? But so was Julia, and she didn’t seem to have any specific issue with her.

The scarred man stepped forward slightly, his green eyes still focused on Lukas. What I could see of his expression was strange, the look in his eyes hovering somewhere between confusion, sadness, and a faint flicker of what I think was hope.

“What _I_ want to know…” he started. “Is how in the Overworld _you_ managed to survive.”

In contrast, Lukas took a step back. “How I…what?”

“Seven years ago, I saw you die. There was no time to even try to save you; you were gone the moment you hit the ground. I was there, and I saw it happen, and I want to know how this version of you escaped that fate.”

Lukas’s blue eyes were wide and startled. “I don’t know what you mean. I’ve been through some near-death experiences, but I…I don’t even know who you are.”

The man watched him silently for several more moments, then ducked his head slightly, looking away. I stepped slightly closer to the gap, peering thoughtfully at him. This was going to kill me if I didn’t figure out who he was soon.

The auburn-haired woman shot her companion a look that seemed to indicate some kind of warning, then looked at each of us in turn. “Trust me. For the moment, you are much better off in there, where there’s nothing to meddle in and no danger to fall into. It is ultimately up to Essa to decide what to do with you, but until she reaches a verdict, I’m afraid you must remain where you are.”

Her voice did not carry the sincere note of apology that the words suggested. If anything, she sounded decently smug. She pivoted away from us, and Romeo opened the iron door for her as she left.  
  


The scarred man looked like he was going to follow, but he turned back to look at Lukas for a moment more, still with that same sorrowful hope in his eyes. Lukas suddenly sucked in a deep breath and leaned forward, staring back at the other man with an expression of shock-tinged wonder.

“…_Aiden?”_ he inquired slowly.

The man lifted his head slightly, a nod of recognition cut in half.

Now I saw it. The scar, the shorter hair, and the disfigured nose had thrown me off, but it was undoubtedly him. I didn’t know what to think of his presence here, why he would possibly be in Beacontown or why he was so close to the Prime.

This timeline’s version of Aiden turned away, ducking his head again and walking briskly through the door. Lukas imitated Julia’s motion earlier, thoughtlessly hitting the obsidian with a clenched fist.

“Wait, no! Aiden, come back! How are you _here_?! What’s going on?” he hollered. “What did you mean about me being dead? Aiden!”

He gave up soon after it became clear his pleas weren’t going to be acknowledged, leaving us again in that silent black cage with nothing but an endless array of unanswerable questions.


	16. Lonely Ones

Lukas’s abandoned shouts ring through Aiden’s head for the whole rest of the day. Justifiably angry, left-behind Lukas. Confused, worried, searching-for-answers Lukas.

Breathing, alive, _real_ Lukas.

He can’t wrap his head around that one fact.

_Alive, alive. How is he alive? What changed?_

He has not fully understood himself in years.

Why did you make that choice? Why did you say that? Why did you agree to go with her? Why did you pledge your loyalty to what you knew was the wrong person? Why did you walk away?

He doesn’t know.

Essa is nowhere.

He knows, of course, that she must be _somewhere_. But she does not seem to want to be found, which makes her as good as nowhere.

He searches the underground fortress for ages. She is not in her quarters, nor any of her usual haunts. She would not be anywhere aboveground, not after that nasty fight.

On some level, Aiden does not even know why he’s searching for her. He wants to know, of course, how the appearance of the two Primes will change her plan, but that is not urgent. He wants to demand if she knew that the Lukas of that timeline was still alive, but he already knows that too. Of course she knew. She knows everything.

Maybe he’d just rather not be alone.

Because, at the moment, he feels very, very alone.

Finally. There she is, in the shadows of the map room. He could swear he looked down here earlier, but maybe she wasn’t here then. Or maybe he just didn’t look hard enough.

Aiden does not like this room, not in the slightest. It makes him uncomfortable, all the charts and notes and scribbled drawings splashed messily with black ink. He is uneasy with how Essa acts when she’s in here as well, all cryptic and ominous and strange.

Of course, she is cryptic and ominous and strange even at the best of times, but in here, it is somehow much more noticeable.

She is standing in front of one of the tables, tracing her fingers down a shambolically scrawled list of events. He doesn’t know which timeline she’s currently studying, and doesn’t particularly care.

Essa doesn’t look up when he pushes the door open and enters the room, though her pet pig comes bounding over to sniff at Aiden’s legs and beg for pets. Aiden obligingly scratches behind the pig’s floppy ears, thinking that Reuben acts more like a dog than anything else.

“How was your chat with them newbies?” Essa asks. She is still not looking at him, and, were they not the only two people in the room, Aiden would wonder whether or not she was talking to him.

Instead of answering her directly, he says, “That was _Lukas_ in there. Really, honestly him. He recognized me.”

“Yep. Thought so.”

She is very infuriating sometimes, and she knows it. Aiden doesn’t bother to question why she’s being difficult at the moment, just rests his hands on the desk and leans towards her. “How? _How_ is it him? Why is he alive?”

Essa finally glances up at him. She does not have her bandanna on anymore, and he is once again struck by how strangely pretty she is. There is a strange sort of delicateness to her face that does not suit her personality, accented by her slanted brown eyes and framed by her long black hair. Her eyes drop back to her research, and she says in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, “Deviations, Aiden. Things happened differently there.”

He huffs. “I know that. But _what_? What changed that let him live?”

She has the gall, then, to look directly into his eyes and lie. “I don’t know.”

She knows. She knows exactly what caused every single deviation, and she knows how she could’ve changed it. She knows, she knows, and he is aware that she does.

With another annoyed huff, he leans away. “What are you going to do with them? They’re prisoners for now, but are you planning on leaving them there forever?”

She assumes a thoughtful expression. “Mm…no, not forever. I’ll figure out what to do with them once my plan is complete. Once my world is perfect again, _then_ I’ll deal with them.”

He scowls. Essa’s plan is a twisted, complicated thing, and even after years and years by her side, he is still not entirely sure of all its details or how it ends.

That does not matter too much, though, because he has promised to be loyal to her, and he’s not intending to go back on that just because he doesn’t understand how her brain works. He knows she has good intentions and is striving for a happy ending for all of them. That is enough. It has to be enough.

So he follows her lead. He does what she says. He is her guard, and her informant, and whatever else she needs him to be.

He has since stopped asking himself why he chose to be any of those things.

Essa looks up at him again, with earnest brown eyes. “I’m so close, Aiden. It’s unbelievable. I’m so, _so_ close.”

“_How_ close?” He presses. The answer will not mean too much to him, and he knows this, but he asks anyways. He has never been good at understanding how exactly the timelines work and why they do what they do.

She purses her lips. “I don’t have an exact time. All I can really do is wait until the newest timeline is ready, but after that it will only be a matter of a week or two. As long as I can keep the other Primes out of the way, everything will be fixed within the month.”

A faint smile darts across her face. “Less than a month.” she says, obviously savoring the words. “I’ve been working on this for _how_ long, and now it’s less than a month before everything’s set right. Everything.”

She again returns her attention to the sets of papers that cover the desk, picking one up and examining it briefly. Aiden watches mutely as she does this, his head full of too many thoughts.

She has indeed been working on this for a long, long time. It was roughly six years ago when she first learned of the timelines, first began delving into the secrets that now drive her entire life.

Six years ago, there had only been two deaths. She had not yet lost everything, not yet begun to spiral down into the dark, vengeful woman Aiden knows her to be today. She had been fascinated by the timelines, but she had not yet begun to weave her elaborate plan. That came later, after more tragedies occurred and more lives were lost.

Sometimes, Essa frightens Aiden greatly. She says strange and terrible things, reacts to events in ways that he doesn’t know what to do with. She has always been a little unusual, but sometimes her uniqueness is too uncanny for even him.

Sometimes, in these moments, he forgets that she was not always like this, that many years before, she was simply a girl with dreams of being a hero. A girl with friends, in a life she enjoyed, a girl who still went by her own first name.

Though she does not have a place in the graveyard alongside said friends, that girl died a long time ago.

“What are you going to do?” he asks.

This is a common question between the two of them, almost like a game. If the mood is lighthearted, he will ask what she will do when she succeeds, and she will rattle off something optimistic and hopeful and never-quite-within-reach. If they are feeling a bit more somber, he will ask what she will do if she fails, and she will say something grim and determined and occasionally terrifying.

She will never, ever, say anything about giving up.

Now, she looks briefly up at him again, waiting for him to continue. He is still not sure which question he is going to ask.

Essa takes matters into her own hands, flipping idly through a few pieces of paper before finding the one she wants.

“When I succeed…I’m going to go _here_.”

He looks politely at the sketch she holds up, which looks a little like a portal and a little like a gate and a little like neither of those at all. Across the top is written, in her familiar handwriting, the word ‘Else’.

“Else.” He comments. “Where or what the fuck is that?”

Her smile is bright and wicked as it flits across her face. “Nowhere, and nothing. And yet, at the same time, everywhere and everything.”

He rolls his eyes. Essa is full of riddles, and while her more cryptic ways of speaking can be fascinating at first, they get obnoxious very quickly.

She sits down at the chair behind the desk, leaning her elbows on the wood as she speaks. “There’s a something _else_ out there, Aiden. Something so far beyond everything we know. A brand-new dimension, but not like these ones. Different, in nearly every way. No monsters. No _blocks_. No god-forsaken Primes.”

He shakes his head, trying and failing to picture a place like that. “How can something like that even exist?”

“That’s one of the many things I have yet to find out. It might take me awhile, but I will. You can bet I will.”

He gives her a questioning look. “Really? So, after taking the reins of the dimensions and plunging everything into chaos, your next big scheme is to travel to another universe entirely?”

She gives him a demure smile. “That does seem like a logical next step, doesn’t it?”

“Essa, I think every ‘logical’ bone in your body has long since deteriorated, if any ever existed at all.” he says with a frown. “What are you even going to do in this new universe, anyways?”

She arches a dark eyebrow at him, her elegant face the very picture of secrets yet to be told. “Well, that depends on what’s there, and what the people are like, and how I’m feeling at the time, and how easy it all would be to, I dunno…conquer.”

Somehow, he is not surprised that she says this. He has, after all, heard quite a bit of her idea of a perfect world. But for some reason, the words settle uncomfortably somewhere near his stomach, giving him an overall heavy, uneasy feeling.

He doesn’t enjoy the sensation of doubting his leader.

She does not seem to notice his discomfort, returning to poring over her pages and pages of plans like she was before he arrived.

“It takes a very broken, twisted soul to do the things you’re planning to do. You know that, right?” Aiden remarks as he turns to go.

Essa’s slight smile widens into a wicked grin. “Thanks. I thought you’d never notice.”

Shaking his head, he lets the door slam behind him.

\------

He walks without aim, and somehow eventually comes to a stop in front of the iron door that leads to the obsidian trap cell. The same cell that the four new prisoners are in: the two Primes, the little traitor boy, and Lukas.

He is held in fairly high regard among Essa’s other followers, high enough that Romeo does not hesitate to move out of the way. He does not trust the former Admin, having seen what he did to Beacontown at the height of his power. But Aiden, who has been a part of Essa’s inner circle for a number of years, has nothing to fear from him anymore.

At least two of the four were in the middle of a fairly heated argument when he approached, but they go quiet as soon as they realize he is the one paying them a visit.

He doesn’t fully know why he’s down here, but he is.

Lukas- gentle, handsome, intelligent, _alive_ Lukas -immediately moves towards him, blue eyes staring through the invisible barrier blocks. Aiden briefly panics when he realizes he doesn’t have his bandana over his face, but just as quickly remembers they already know his identity.

“It really is you?” asks Lukas. Aiden nods once.

“It really is _you_.” he echoes.

Lukas’s eyes are confused and sad as he inquires, “What did…am I really, you know, _dead_ in this timeline?”

“Seven years ago.” Aiden says by way of reply. “You fell from the Witherstorm, and you broke just about every bone in your body, and you were dead before any of us even had time to fully realize what happened.”

Lukas reels back slightly, while the female Prime- Julia, he thinks her name is -steps forward. Her eyebrows are raised in surprise, and she indicates Lukas with a jerk of her hand. “_He_ fell from the Witherstorm?!”

Turning his head only an inch towards her, Aiden answers, “Yes. He refused to let Essa go alone. He said it would be too dangerous, not to mention terrifying, for her to go up on her own. He offered to go with her. She didn’t say no. She came down alive, and he did not.”

The two Primes exchange a wide-eyed look, the shock between them so thick one could probably cut it with a sword. Part of Aiden wants to ask what happened instead, in their timelines, but he doesn’t.

Radar, the young traitor who is not yet a traitor in his timeline, is the next to step closer and ask a pointless question. “If Lukas isn’t…around anymore in this dimension, why are _you_ here?”

Again, Aiden doesn’t deign to fully look at him as he simply says, “I’m loyal to Essa. I may not always agree with her methods or understand her plans, but she’s the one in charge, and that’s it. I follow her.”

He is aware that he did not fully answer the question, and the boy frowns as he realizes this too.

“Ugh, this is so confusing. I can’t figure out what’s actually a deviation and what’s just…the future.” Julia mutters. “Obviously, there’s things that happened or didn’t happen here that throw things off, but how does it affect the end product…?”

“And is there an ‘end product? Where _do_ the timelines ‘end’, if they do at all? Do things just keep going on forever, becoming more and more different from each other as time goes on?” contributes Radar.

Aiden is not concerned by or even interested in their discussions. He does not understand the timelines well, partially because he doesn’t care.

Lukas looks over at him again, and Aiden’s mind is abruptly filled with unfamiliar thoughts and questions he doesn’t want the answer to. He tries to think of something he _does_ want to know.

“The way you reacted when you figured out who I was.” he starts. “Are we still friends, in your reality? After all this time, and everything?”

His voice is uncharacteristically quiet and soft. In stark contrast, the male Prime lets out a loud and somewhat obnoxious burst of laughter, leaning back against the far wall with a false air of nonchalance.

“Still friends? Nah. You’re _screwing_ him.”

The glare he receives from Lukas is fast and sharp, though it doesn’t seem to affect him all that much. With an aggrieved sigh, Lukas looks at Aiden again, his face slightly redder than before.

“Yes. We are still friends. Things were rocky for a while, and we weren’t talking, but we got through it.”

Aiden nods slowly, while the Prime makes an amusedly disdainful noise. He is wondering again how his life would’ve been different if the version of Lukas he knew had survived. Would he still have chased Essa up to that accursed city in the sky, hungering for revenge? Would he still have gone with her, on the mad quest through the Portal Network? Would he still have stayed by her side long enough to have to go through all the torture he did when the Admin took over Beacontown?

He wants to stay, wants to learn more about their timelines and how things could’ve been. Thinking like this and asking those questions ignites a strange sort of pain in his heart. It burns like anger and it aches like loss, but there are times when he welcomes that feeling.

Not now, though. He can’t afford to right now.

He turns away, aiming for the door again. “I’m sorry things had to go this way. I wish…well, _everything_ could’ve been different, for me _and_ for all of you.”

The door has already opened in front of him when he hears Lukas’s voice, and he turns on instinct. After not hearing that tone for so long, it’s impossible _not_ to respond to it.

“Aiden…if I can ask…why are you working for Essa? She seems like a pretty…dangerous person. Why would you want to be allied with someone like her?”

He gives Lukas a long, sad, look. The blond man stares back at him with earnest eyes, begging for a valid answer. Aiden sighs softly, turning to leave for good.

“There’s nothing else left.”

\-----

The graveyard is misty and silent in the cool evening air. He very, very rarely comes here on his own; it’s normally Essa who visits this place and him who lags behind.

But he feels duty-bound to go there today.

He knows the names of every single person who lies below the dirt here. He was even there when several of them died.

Goosebumps spring up on the skin of his bare arms, though it’s not easy to tell if they are caused by the chill of the air or the chill in his heart. This place makes him uncomfortable, in a strange, slithery way that causes him to glance repeatedly over his shoulder at every hint of a noise.

But he lays his nervousness aside as he approaches the very first of the seven graves. They are spaced out into two rows; three headstones, then four.

He pauses, then kneels next to the second of the upright stone slabs. Even without reading the name carved there, he knows very well who rests below the dirt. He knew the boy when he was alive, and he was there when that boy died. It’s so impossibly real, the unbearable truth of it weighing on his consciousness for the past seven years.

And yet…

And yet, right now, that boy still stands, still breathes, still lives. And yet, in another time, he survives.

Aiden reaches out and brushes his fingers along the top of the headstone, as if testing to see if it really is there. His body is still, but his mind is a flurry of motion.

What if Lukas hadn’t died?

Who would he be, if his life hadn’t been so quickly ripped away?

Who would _Aiden_ be, if he hadn’t lost that precious friendship that kept him stable?

What if he’d never been ensnared by Essa and her plans?

How would his life be different?

Would he even have a life at all?

The questions circle his head, around and around, looking for something he knows can’t be found. Getting him lost in a loop of impossible pasts. It’s far too late to find the answers to any of these queries; all the possible paths have already long deteriorated.

He knows this. He knows this very, very well.

But he can’t help but wonder.

He sits alone, unmoving, as the darkness becomes thicker and more complete, and the night fills slowly with the sounds of mobs moving about. He sits alone, and when he finally rises, his joints are stiff from the long lack of movement.

Aiden doesn’t know why he is loyal to Essa. She is dangerous, and unpredictable, and she’s already gotten so many other people killed.

But he follows her anyways, because what he said to this new Lukas is true.

He doesn’t have anything else left.


	17. Rescue and Revelations

I was starting to get the feeling that we were going to be left in this cell until the Nether froze over.

Which is to say, forever.

At least two days had passed since the Aiden of this timeline had come down to talk to us. We were brought food regularly, but no one new showed up.

Shortly before Aiden had arrived, Lukas and Julia had gotten into yet another fight. She said something snippy and finger-pointing about not wanting to be in this timeline, and he returned with a reprise of the ‘you’re-the-whole-reason-any-of-us-are-here’ argument. It had all gone downhill from there, and now they weren’t speaking to each other.

Radar, meanwhile, had produced a notebook and pencil from his inventory and was working on a number of entirely impossible escape plans. Not just improbable, but completely and totally _impossible_.  
He didn’t explain them in detail to any of us, which was how I knew that he was indeed aware that they were all dead ends.

Each of us had settled into our own little corner of the cell. It wasn’t overly cramped, not by a long shot, but it felt smaller the longer we were in there.

Occasionally, Julia would bang her fist against the black blocks and shout something at Romeo, who was still standing guard outside the iron door. We knew he could hear her, but he never responded. I wasn’t sure if this was on orders from Essa or just because he was too haughty to acknowledge us lowly prisoners.

I hated being so completely without information. We’d managed to glean a little bit more about this timeline from Aiden, but we still didn’t know enough. We still had no idea what had _happened_ to this place, how it could be so wrecked with the Prime still here. We didn’t know why Essa appeared to no longer be leading Beacontown, and we didn’t know anything about these so-called rebels, who they were or what they stood for.

Speaking of the rebels, I believed another attack was going on aboveground. It wasn’t as loud or explode-y as before, but I heard faint sounds of fighting and people running all through the tunnels, seeming like they were heading up.

I still wasn’t sure what to think about Essa and this timeline in general. There were obviously some pretty major deviations- with Lukas being dead and all -but without knowing more about how things had been changed, I wasn’t bold enough to make solid theories.

How _would_ everything have been different with Lukas gone? If he’d really died during the Witherstorm, how had that affected the whole Sky City adventure? Or Cassie’s mansion?

Something new occurred to me.

If this timeline’s Lukas had been the one to lose his life in the fall from the Witherstorm…what had happened to Reuben?

He must not have gone up, right? Could he possibly still be alive?

Or…what if he’d never existed in this timeline?

I couldn’t figure out which one was worse.

Across the cell from me, Radar sighed and put down his notebook. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Out of ideas, huh?” I asked. He nodded miserably, glaring at the floor.

Lukas, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, let out a similar exasperated sigh. “They certainly trapped us good. Without a diamond pickaxe, it would take pure magic to get us out of here.”

He said this rather scornfully, but Radar’s dark green eyes suddenly lit up, and he lifted his head.

“Magic! Oh my god, I can’t believe it took us this long to remember.”

Lukas gave him a questioning look. “Huh?”

Radar grinned. “_Julia!_ She can get us out with her Admin powers!” he exclaimed, waving a hand towards the other Prime. Her eyes widened, and she covered her open mouth with one hand.

“Oh, _wow_ we’re idiots. I’ve gotten so used to hiding them that I completely forgot what I can do. Good _job_, me.” she said with an embarrassed shake of her head. “I can’t teleport us out, but I can definitely make a gap through the obsidian. Then we’ll have to get out of this place before anyone realizes we’re missing.”

I glanced through the barrier blocks at the iron door, where Romeo was still visible outside. “Keep your voice down. And if you’re breaking us out of here, try not to be too loud. We don’t want to draw attention.”

Julia shut her eyes, and opened them again to reveal her unsettling red-and-yellow Admin eyes. “No promises.”

Squaring her shoulders and stretching out a hand, Julia balled her fingers into a tight fist. The resulting _thud_ of the obsidian breaking was luckily not overly loud, and it was partially disguised by the faint battle noises from aboveground. Another hand motion from Julia threw the iron door open, knocking Romeo aside before he even knew what had happened.

She led the way through the wrecked wall, eyes blazing. Romeo had quickly gotten back on his feet and was staring at her in pure shock. “Y-you’re an _Admin_?! How?! Why are you-”

Julia’s powers lifted him off the ground and tossed him into the cell, reforming the wall just as perfectly as if it had never been broken. She then turned to the three of us, waiting for her a little further down the tunnel.

In that moment, I will admit that she looked downright terrifying. Julia was levitating a few inches off the ground, and her fierce expression and confident posture were made even more intimidating by the eerily glowing eyes. Her short hair whipped ominously around her face in a wind that only she could feel, and I suddenly wasn’t so sure that she wouldn’t try to attack us, too.

Then her eyes returned to normal, and she dropped to the ground and smiled a little guiltily. “Sorry. I’m not sure if I mentioned that these powers are a little overwhelming sometimes, but they are.”

“No worries. Let’s get out of here.” I said, beginning to walk swiftly down the tunnel. The others quickly followed.

“Does anyone remember how we get out? Because I don’t.” Lukas pointed out. “When we came down, I was too stressed about what was going on and focusing too hard on the Prime to keep track.”

“Oh, shoot. I…_kind_ of remember?” Radar said.

I didn’t pause. “We’ll just have to figure it out.”

“But we don’t have time for a lot of trial and error.” Lukas objected worriedly.

“Then let’s _not_ make it a lot of trial and error. We only went down a few side tunnels, we should be able to piece it together.”

Julia pointed to a fork in the passage. “We came through here. I remember getting my feet tangled up in that grass and almost tripping.”

Sure enough, there was a dirt block with a trampled-looking patch of tallgrass in front of the tunnel. This one was slightly narrower than the previous and sloped noticeably upwards.

We hurried through the dim tunnels for several minutes. I desperately hoped we were going the right way, and that we wouldn’t run into anyone who knew we weren’t supposed to be there. The tapping of our feet on the stone parts of the floor seemed far too loud, and it started making me jumpy.

We seemed to be closer to the surface, though, so we must’ve been doing _something_ right. It was very obvious that there was something going on up there; we could hear all sorts of crashes and shouts and other conflict-like noises.

The sound of running footsteps came suddenly from a passage in front of us while we were paused, trying to figure out which way to go. There was no time to escape or find somewhere to hide before a man burst out of the tunnel, looking as though he’d been running for a while.

The man froze, nervously looking between the four of us. He was fairly tall, with a goldish-brown beard and long hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. His arms were covered with scars, and he had a patch covering one eye. I recognized him instantly.

“Jack?” I asked warily. His good eye rested suspiciously on me for a moment. Then he glanced at Radar, and his expression cleared.

“You’re our…travelers. Good. We need to get out of here; there’s not a lot of time.” He said, gesturing to the tunnel he’d just come through.

Julia stared. “Wait, what? Are you…you’re not working with Essa?”

Jack let out a scornful laugh. “That manipulative lunatic? Not anymore. Hurry, it won’t be long before they figure out that our distraction was exactly that.”

“Hold on. You’re…one of those rebels?” Lukas asked. Jack frowned slightly.

“Yeah, that’s what Essa and her crew have labelled us. I don’t care what you call us, but we’re the ones resisting Essa’s grip on the town. That woman’s gone crazier than the sorcerers of Aristan, and she’s making an enormous mess of things. Now _come on_; we’ve got to get out of here. Once Essa realizes the attack was a trick, Stella and Binta won’t be able to stall her anymore and she and her people will come storming down here. I can explain things once we’re somewhere safer.”

With that, he turned and headed back down the passage, apparently trusting that we would follow. Julia hurried after him, and, after exchanging brief shrugs and confused looks, Lukas, Radar, and I went with them.

“How did you know who we were?” Julia asked as we darted down the tunnel.

Jack glanced over his shoulder at her as he said, “During the attack a few days ago, Giselle was boasting about it. Several of us have known about the timelines for a while- it comes with the territory of being close to Essa, since she’s absolutely obsessed with them.”

“Why?” Radar asked.

Jack took a few moments to reply, and when he did, it was in a very low and cryptic tone. “You’ll see.”

After a few more minutes of navigating tunnels (or, rather, following Jack as he confidently navigated the tunnels), we found ourselves in the big main room with the staircase. Jack held up a hand, signaling for us to wait. “I’ll go up first and make sure there’s no one unpleasant around. We can’t get caught now.”

He hurried briskly up the stairs, pausing cautiously at the top. Lukas leaned close to me, murmuring in my ear.

“Do you think we can trust him? This timeline hasn’t exactly been friendly to us so far.”

I shrugged. “I hope so. He seems…well, he seems like _Jack_, while the others we met all acted kinda suspicious. Plus, what he’s told us matches up with what we already thought. About Essa being a little _off_ and all.”

Before Lukas could reply, Jack waved his hand towards us, the universal signal for ‘come on’. This time, I was the first to follow him, with the others trailing behind.

“We need to get outta Beacontown. There’s something I think you should see, and I doubt Essa will think to look for us there, at least not right away.”

The guards that had been protecting the base entrance when we arrived were now gone. Beacontown looked mostly the same; which is to say, a total nightmare. Jack led the way away from the ruins of the Order Hall, heading for the north wall.

I didn’t bother to waste time questioning where we were going, just followed him along the shadows of buildings and through a small gap in the wall. Once officially outside the town’s borders, he slowed to a purposeful walk.

“This timeline is much, much different than yours. Granted, I don’t know much about either of yours, but I do know that this particular dimension is one of a kind.”

“How?” Julia asked.

Jack turned to give her a look. “How do I know, or how is it different?”

“Um…yes?” She replied.

“Well, I know because Essa told me, back when we were still friendly. As for how it’s different…you’re about to find out.” He said grimly.

We approached a small grove of fenced-in trees. Despite the colourful flowers springing up inside the dark-oak fence, the place had a vaguely ominous feel to it. A narrow cobblestone path led through the trees from the gate, and Jack was noticeably careful to stay on it.

“Here. _Here_ is why this timeline is such a mess.”

In front of us were two rows of graves. The back row had three tombstones, while the front had four. Two of the graves were noticeably newer than the other five, with nothing but overturned dirt where the others had grass and flowers. They were not exactly fresh, but they had been dug more recently than any of the others.

Radar shuddered. “Oh, great. This can only mean good things.”

I heartily agreed with his assessment, though I didn’t say anything. I knelt in front of one of the two newer ones, examining the fine carving on the stone. Someone had obviously spent a lot of time on these.

Then the carved name fully sank in.

In simple, elegant letters, it said: **Petra.**

I reeled back, looking at the other names.

**Xara**

**Olivia**

**Ivor**

**Axel**

**Lukas**

**Magnus**

I was on my feet before I even realized what I was doing, backing away from the horrifying sight. This was straight out of my nightmares. Julia, Lukas, and Radar were looking at the names as well, the shock on their faces evident.

This was _not_ what I’d been expecting.

“’Course, that’s not _everybody_ that Essa’s gotten killed. She never found Gabriel’s body, and there wasn’t enough of Ellegaard left to bury.” Jack continued gruffly, looking away. “And I didn’t want Nurm’s grave all the way out here; he’s buried near our shop.”

Julia’s aghast face had been turned back towards Jack. “W-what _is_ this? I-it can’t be real…how did this happen?!”

Jack’s tone was low and sad as he said, “I don’t know how some of them died, as I didn’t know Essa before the whole Admin thing. Everyone knows how Magnus and Lukas were killed. Axel died only a few months after them, though I’m not sure how. I dunno about Ivor, either, though I remember Essa saying that Olivia’s was a suicide.”

Every new word piled another layer of shock onto me. This wasn’t possible. This _literally could not be possible_.

“Petra and Xara were both murdered by the Admin, though Essa still had a hand in their deaths. In the Sunshine Institute, Essa was threatening the Admin, and doing a pretty good job of it too. When he took the gauntlet off Petra, he just…waved his hand, and snapped her neck. Just like that.” Jack imitated the movement with his own hand, and Julia winced mightily.

“And then in the Underneath, Xara was getting on all of our nerves, and once the portal was built, Essa basically told her to get lost. Next we saw of her, she tried to take on Romeo with just a sword and a couple a’ arrows, and he killed her too.”

Jack’s dark eye focused on me. “If you haven’t figured it out already, Essa is _dangerous_. She has a way of getting the people around her killed, whether she intends to or not. She’s driven this world into the ground, just because she’s so caught up in her mad quest.”

Lukas was crouched next to Petra’s headstone, absent-mindedly tracing her name. “No wonder everything’s so crazy here. Not only is every death its own deviation, but it changed things and created even more new deviations. Each new death made this place more and more of a mess. I wonder if…well, Essa has to know about this, right? She and her crew seemed pretty knowledgeable about the timelines, so…?”

“Essa has a plan. I don’t know what she wants to accomplish or what she’s going to do, but I know it involves the timelines.” Jack said. He’d been giving Lukas a curious look. “Hate to be rude, but who are you, exactly? Why haven’t we met in this timeline?”

Letting out a hollow laugh, Lukas stood and pointed to the headstone with his name on it. “I’m Lukas. In our timeline, I never went up in the Witherstorm.”

“I just…I can’t believe this. I kind of feel bad for her now.” Julia said, still staring at the rows of graves.

I gave her a sideways look. “Really? Even after hearing that she _caused_ a lot of these deaths?”

“She didn’t know, though. I mean, yeah, she made things more difficult, but she didn’t really have a way of knowing what her choices were doing.” Radar contributed.

Lukas frowned. “I dunno. You’d think she’d have figured out that there’s kind of a pattern by now.”

“Yeah. You make risky choices; you get people killed.” I added.

“Still. I can’t help imagining how I would feel if all _my_ friends were dead.” Julia said.

Before any of us could reply, Radar looked to Jack and asked, “Why do people keep saying I’m a traitor? Sorry, I know this is off-topic, but the two people we met both said it…?”

Jack nodded. “Right. Well, after the Admin was defeated, Essa never really regained control of Beacontown. Even though people understood it wasn’t her, a lot of them still didn’t totally like the idea of her being back in charge. Things started getting more intense, and eventually Essa and the people still loyal to her moved underground, you with them. It wasn’t long, though, before you started having doubts about your loyalties. Essa got a lot worse in the past few months, and even though you’d trusted her for a long time, you didn’t anymore. So you started sneaking away from the base, meeting with us ‘rebels’ and passing along information about Essa, her base, and her gang. Unfortunately, your role as our mole didn’t last very long, because Giselle caught you and you were forced to abandon the base. You’ve been staying in Champion City with the rest of us, though you don’t help with attacks because Giselle made up some story that made everything sound way worse than it was, so Essa and that stupid lackey of hers are out for your _blood_. Er…our version of you, at least.”

Radar shuddered, and Julia said, “So that _is_ a deviation, not something that happens in the future. That dirty stinking _liar_.”

“Hold on.” I interrupted. “Who is Giselle?”

“That woman we first met?” Lukas guessed.

Jack crossed his arms. “Brown-haired lady, usually wears purple’n blue, looks vaguely smug a lot of the time. I don’t know her very well, since she wasn’t with us for most of the Admin mess, but I can’t say I’m fond of her. She’s basically Essa’s second-in-command, and she creeps the hell out of me.”

“Huh. We don’t have a version of her in our timeline. Or if we do, I haven’t met her.” I said.

“That’s…very suspicious.” Jack commented. “But lucky you, I suppose. She’s a nasty one.”

He glanced briefly back the way we’d come. “I think you guys should get out of here. However it is you travel to the different timelines, you should do that. Essa will probably have discovered that the attack was a ruse by now, and if she realizes you’re missing…”

“Right, good idea.” Julia said with a nod. She spent a few moments searching through her inventory before finding the paper with all the ‘exit codes’, then studied it carefully.

“Where do we go now? There’s still so much we don’t know about this timeline, but we can’t stay to learn more.” Radar mused.

I let out a small sigh. “I don’t know. I’d like to go home, make sure Beacontown is still okay, but with everything that’s going on, I’m not sure if we should.”

Lukas started to suggest something, but he was interrupted by a loud shout from behind us.

“They’re in the graveyard!”

I whirled around, to see three figures charging towards us from the direction of Beacontown. It was unmistakably Essa, Aiden, and Giselle.

We were out of time.

Jack drew his sword. “I’ll try to hold them off! You guys get out of here!”

He ran to meet our three pursuers, while Julia was concentrating on drawing the symbols in the air with her own diamond sword.

“Uuhh…Julia, any day now!” Radar prompted nervously. Jack was trying to fight both Aiden and Essa at the same time, and didn’t appear to be winning. Giselle had an arrow nocked in an enchanted bow, looking like she was trying to decide which of us to aim for.

“I know, I know!” Julia exclaimed. She slashed the blade downward, opening the pure white gate. “There! Come on, quick!”

Radar leaped through, with Julia right behind him. I was worried for a second that Lukas had frozen in terror, but he swiftly followed them.

Giselle’s arrow flew past me, and I looked back just in time to see Jack go down and the three of them start running towards me. I turned and stepped into the gate, praying it would somehow close behind me before they caught up.  
  


I paid absolutely no attention to the appearance of the In-Between, though it _had_ changed since we’d been there last. The other three were waiting for me.

“What do we do?! Where do we go?” Radar asked, clearly sinking into a panic.

“Either of our timelines would be too obvious, right?” said Lukas. “So where are we supposed to go?”

“It doesn’t matter; let’s just go _fast_. They’d already defeated Jack when I left, and even if that gate somehow closed, I assume Essa could make a new one.” I added.

Julia pivoted away from us, pointing at different gates in turn. “Eeny meeny miny moe, catch a zombie by its toe. That one! _Let’s go_!”

None of us doubted her choosing method as she dashed for the gate she’d picked. Julia launched herself into the white abyss, and Lukas didn’t hesitate to follow. Radar bolted after them, apparently more afraid of Essa and her cronies than the idea of leaping headlong into yet another unknown.

I didn’t even know what we were headed into, and it didn’t matter. I jumped across the threshold, letting the brilliant light engulf me again.


	18. Temporary Solace

The swirling white surrounded me completely, preventing me from seeing or feeling anything but colourless light. I prayed- literally shut my eyes and _prayed_ -that we would end up somewhere okay. It would really suck if we found ourselves days away from Beacontown again.

I appeared back in the Overworld, landing steadily on my feet and opening my eyes. It was night, the full moon shining high above us. Mob noises echoed faintly around me, and I drew my diamond sword on instinct.

I glanced around quickly. Julia also had her weapon out, and Radar was all but hiding behind her as she fended off a zombie. A rattle to my left made me jump, and I barely dodged in time to avoid a skeleton’s arrow in my side.

I lunged forward and struck the monster with my blade, finishing it off. Skeletons weren’t hard to kill, but they were still a pain. I stuck my sword back into my inventory, seeing that Julia had dealt with her foe as well.

“Where are we?” I asked.

Lukas tapped my shoulder, and I turned. A walled town could be seen in the near distance…and a very familiar one, at that.

“No way. Is that Beacontown? Are we _seriously_ that lucky? No _way_.” I didn’t believe it. It sure looked like Beacontown, and the mountains behind it were right, but how could we possibly be here just like that? This world wasn’t small- there were literally a million other places we could’ve ended up.

“Looks like it.” Julia replied.

I shook my head in amazement. Truth be told, I’d started getting used to things going massively wrong, so I wasn’t sure how to react to this.

“We still don’t know which timeline we’re in, though, do we?” I remembered. When we’d been in the In-Between, I’d been way too stressed and unsettled to orient myself.

“I…have an idea about that, actually.” Lukas said. He pointed in the opposite direction of Beacontown, where the tall spires of another city were clearly under construction.

I tipped my head to the side, unsure of what I was looking at. Then Radar said, “Whoa, is that Champion City? Why does it…look like that?”

Julia snapped her fingers. “It’s still being built. We’re in the past; this must be the timeline that stems from mine.”

“But how far in the past are we? Has to be quite a few years, right?” I asked.

Lukas shrugged. “One way to find out. Let’s head into Beacontown.”

“Wait!” Radar said. “What are we gonna do when we’re there? Talk to the Prime? Or just…lay low for a while? We can’t go back to the In-Between while Essa’s still after us, but is it really a good idea to get yet another Prime mixed up in this?”

“Hm.” Julia grunted thoughtfully. “I’d say we should try to make friends with the Prime, and fill her in on the timelines if she doesn’t already know. For all we know, Essa might try to recruit the other Primes for whatever her twisted plan is, so we could use all the allies we can get.”

Radar sighed in a distressed sort of way, but didn’t argue. We headed towards this version of Beacontown, moving quickly in hopes of getting there before we had to deal with any more mobs.

The thought of being in the past made me somewhat nervous. We were even further back than when we’d been in Jacek’s timeline, so if we were going to talk to the Prime, we’d have to be _very_ careful with what we said.

The gates slid open automatically before us, and I was hit with an uncomfortably strong feeling of nostalgia as I surveyed the town in front of us. This was obviously in Beacontown’s early days, before people had started arriving in droves and the Prime had fully claimed leadership. So we had to be at least four years back, maybe more.

The streets were quiet, the glowstone lamps casting a comforting gold glow on the small houses. They were all much plainer than the Beacontown structures I was used to, which was rather unsettling. Ahead of us was the likeness of the amulet, and though the beacons weren’t lit up, the gold, iron, and glass still reflected the lamplight in a beautifully eerie way.

Radar was staring around in awe. “Whoa. This place is a trip. It’s so…simple.”

Julia laughed quietly. “You never saw the town when it still looked like this, did you? You’re too young.”

He shook his head. “Nope, and I’ve only lived in our Beacontown for a little over a year. I’ve only ever known it like it is.”

“It’s certainly changed a lot in the past few years, huh?” I commented. “It hardly even seems like the same town. Hell, I’d almost completely forgotten it used to look like this.”

Lukas was the next to speak up, in a similarly soft voice. “I haven’t. I think about it all the time. I even remember when it wasn’t a town at all, just a base camp for some of the Witherstorm refugees.”

Glancing vaguely up at the night sky, Julia added, “That feels like it was such a long time ago.”

“It _was_.” I put in. “Seven, going on eight years.” We’d all been so young, so unsure. We’d had no idea what to do, much less what we were going to become. We were just kids, dreaming of the future.

Were we any better now? We were older, maybe, but in the grand scheme of things, what difference did that make? Here and now, in this adventure, we were still uncertainly guessing, still trying to be enough.

But that was the difference, right there. We’d stopped thinking about the future, instead accepting that this _was_ our future.

It hit me like a lightning bolt. That’s what had changed. That was why I’d been so irritable, and Lukas was so hopeless. We’d stopped dreaming of _more_. We’d stopped looking into the horizon, instead focusing on the path directly under our feet. We’d settled into our current day-to-day lives, silently accepting that this was all we were going to be.

I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to understand.

I looked over at Lukas, who was scowling thoughtfully ahead of us, at the Order Hall. Although I was glad to have figured this out, I didn’t know what to do with the information.

As we approached the large glass and terracotta building, Lukas asked, “Is…does this seem _off_ to anyone else?”

We paused. “Off…? How?” Julia inquired.

He tipped his head to the side. “There’s no lights on. I don’t think this version of the Order is here.”

“What? Why wouldn’t they be?” Radar asked.

Lukas shrugged. “I don’t know. Even though it’s kinda late, there should be at least _some_ sign of people being here. But even the lights around the entrance are off, which almost never happens.”

“Dammit. So then where’s the Prime?” Julia asked. Lukas shook his head. “Beats me.”

Before any of us could think of anything to say, a familiarly grouchy male voice called, “You four! Quit soliciting! Hasn’t anyone ever told not to hang around on private property?”

We turned to see none other than Ivor, shouting down at us from his monstrosity of a house. Apparently the Prime of this timeline had decided to let it stand, though there was a noticeable lack of lava. They must’ve reached a compromise.

Lukas subtly shifted to behind Julia, assumedly hoping to not be recognized. Unfortunately, everyone else in our group was shorter than him, so the best he could do was duck his head awkwardly and hope Ivor’s sharp eyes didn’t identify him in the semidarkness.

“Um…do you know where the Order is?” Julia asked Ivor, ignoring his previous words.

The older man rolled his eyes. “They’re out on some mission, I don’t know where. What do you want with them?”

“It’s, uh…kinda personal?” Julia tried.

Ivor gave her a distrustful look from above us. “It’s a secret, alright? There’s some things they need to know.” I added stubbornly. I knew that probably did nothing to assuage his suspicions, but I wasn’t about to explain the whole we’re-from-another-dimension thing right then.

“Well, they’ll be back in the morning. So until then, I suggest you get out of here.” He snapped, crossing his arms.

“Alright, alright. We get it.” Julia muttered as we headed away from the Order’s headquarters before he decided to interrogate us anymore.

“He seemed grumpier than usual.” Radar commented.

Lukas shook his head. “He was like that all the time in the past. You’re lucky you’ve only known him recently, now that he’s calmed down. Well…_kind_ of calmed down.”

“Where are we supposed to go?” Julia asked. “We can’t just skulk around waiting all night.”

“Right,” I agreed. “There should be an inn around here somewhere, we can stay there and find the Order in the morning.”

It took us a few minutes to find the inn, but we did. It was vastly smaller and plainer than it was in my Beacontown, but that didn’t matter. We checked in quickly and went up to our rooms.

Julia fell asleep the very second she fell into bed, but I was awake for a while longer, my brain spinning helplessly through possibilities and pasts.

Truth be told, I was almost dreading meeting this Prime. I still didn’t know exactly how far in the past we were, but if I was right, this Prime would be only eighteen or nineteen. Still free, still adventuring. Still looking to the future.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to face that, not with the knowledge that I had essentially, somewhere along the line, given up.

I didn’t know what to do.

This particular adventure was hard enough. There were still so many things we didn’t know, answers we hadn’t yet figured out how to dig out. But what would come _after_ this? After everything we’d been through and learned, would things just go back to normal?

That’s what I wanted, right? Of course, I wanted to fix the timelines. But what of the after? Would there _be_ an after?

I hated this. I hated having questions that kept me awake, and I hated being the only one who had any hope of answering them.

Which is to say, none.

I don’t know how many hours I laid awake, hands folded behind my head as I stared hopelessly at the ceiling.

I hated this.

\--

The next morning came too early. When I finally fell asleep, it was restless and full of uncomfortable dreams that haunted my consciousness like a fog.

Lukas actually had to shake me several times before I woke up, which was unusual since I was normally a pretty light sleeper. He gave me vaguely suspicious looks the entire time it took us to leave the inn and head back out into town.

That day was slightly overcast, with the morning sun peeking hesitantly through layers of clouds. It wasn’t enough to seem like rain, but it didn’t exactly help my heavy mood.

Julia snapped her fingers and pointed at Lukas. “I had an idea last night, when we were talking to Ivor. Even though you’re a little older and you look a bit different than the version of you here, it’d still be pretty easy for someone to recognize you. So I was thinking, if you’re okay with it, I could use my Admin powers to disguise you.” She said, lowering her voice significantly on the last sentence.

The blond man looked at her for a few moments, then shrugged. “Sure. I hadn’t really thought about that, but it’s probably a good idea.”

I was a little surprised he’d agreed so easily, since he and Julia still didn’t seem to have fully gotten over their fight back in that accursed obsidian cell. Or…any of their previous fights.  
Perhaps his sense of practicality was outweighing his need to hold a grudge.

Julia glanced quickly around to make sure no one was paying attention to us, then closed her eyes. There were people walking along the main streets, but we had stepped into the shadow of a nearby building and were being completely ignored.

The Admin-red filled Julia’s eyes, and she nodded briskly. When I looked back at Lukas, I jumped slightly. I don’t know why, exactly, I was so surprised to see that he _wasn’t_ Lukas anymore, but I was. Truth be told I was still a little unnerved by Julia’s powers. They were certainly helpful, and I trusted that she couldn’t use them against us, but it was still a little strange.

Lukas still had the same blue eyes, and was wearing the same clothes, but his face had completely changed. He was paler, with longer and curlier hair that was even darker than my own. His nose was slightly wider, and he had a sharper chin.

He lifted a hand to his face. “I don’t…_feel_ any different.” he commented quietly.

“Trust me, you are.” I said, still a little disturbed. Even his voice was slightly changed, a little deeper and with a faint accent I couldn’t place.

“It’s like a mask.” Julia said. “I didn’t actually change what you look like, just put a sort of…glamour on top of your real face.”

Meanwhile, Radar was looking around this version of Beacontown again. “Hey, uh…this is just a guess, but I _think_ the Order’s back.”

I followed his gaze, not immediately seeing anyone of interest. Then I caught sight of two people walking together casually, heading towards the Hall. One of them was a tall, muscular, young man with shaggy black hair, whom I instantly recognized as a younger Axel.  
The other was a slender girl with brown skin and black hair pulled into a bun at the top of her head. She was also fairly tall, and wearing the set of armour that I believed was called the Swordbreaker.

She had to be the Prime.

Julia made a face. “_That_ armour? Really? I’ve always hated that one.”

I elbowed her. “Priorities, Julia. Let’s go talk to her.”

“Fine, yeah, I know.” She sighed, jogging quickly towards the umber-skinned girl and catching her attention.

Lukas, Radar, and I trailed behind her. “Here we go again.” Lukas muttered under his breath.

Radar gave him a sideways look. “That is _seriously_ going to take some getting used to.”

“What?” Lukas asked. Radar and I exchanged a glance.

“You.”

“Your mask or whatever.”

“The voice.”

“Especially the accent.”

“Your _hair_.”

He self-consciously ran a hand through the dark brown locks that curled over his forehead. “What did she do to my hair?” he asked, somewhat nervously.

I snickered. “Oh, nothing.”

He glowered at me, but was interrupted by Julia waving us over to where she was standing in front of the Prime and this timeline’s Axel. The girl’s dark face was friendly and open, contrasting starkly with Axel’s suspicious scowl.

“This is Jess, Radar, and…Luis.” Julia was saying. She completely missed the evil glare Lukas shot her with.

The Prime made a small motion with her hand, almost a wave, but not quite. “Hey. I’m Josephine; you can call me Jo. And this is Axel.”

“Anyways, like I said, there’s something we really need to talk to you about. Alone, if possible.” Julia continued.

Axel gave Jo a questioning look. She glanced back; a silently confident expression that made the tall boy relax slightly. “Sure, okay. I’m all ears. We can talk in the Hall, if that’s alright. Axel, I’ll catch up with you later?”

He hesitated for a second, then shrugged. “Yeah. No problem.”

Jo gestured towards the Hall, and we walked with her. “So, what’s going on?”

“It’s…kind of a long story.” I hedged, unsure of how exactly Julia was planning to go about this. Jo grinned.

“I’ve got all day.”

\--

Josephine was a good listener.

For most of the explanation, she was fairly quiet, leaning forward slightly on her elbows as she listened to Julia and I (and sometimes Radar or Lukas) talk. She asked pointed questions now and then, mostly about how the different timelines worked or why stuff happened. Her grey-brown eyes widened during the tenser parts of the story, such as when we realized Ivor was gone or when Essa shut us in the cell.

She seemed to have no trouble understanding it all, either. It was clear she was very smart, and very interested in the way things worked.

We didn’t tell her about Julia’s Admin powers, or anything that would give her any hints about future adventures. We’d learned that we were exactly five years back- Jo was recently nineteen; still adventuring with her friends and just starting to take on more leadership duties around Beacontown.

She seemed so happy and carefree, and I was very, very careful not to clue her in on any facts that would lead her to believe that would all change.

“…And that’s how we ended up here. We were lucky enough to find you so quickly, and even luckier to end up so close to Beacontown in the first place.” Julia finished.

Jo nodded slowly. “I kinda wonder, though. Do you think it _is_ a coincidence that you met me so soon?”

“What do you mean?” Lukas asked. We hadn’t told her his real identity, either, since that would entail revealing Julia’s powers.

“Well, from what you told me, it seems like you all were pretty desperate to be close to Beacontown. Is it possible that intention influenced your destination?” she inquired.

“What, like the In-Between was bent to our will or something?” Julia asked.

Jo smiled lightly. “We’re dealing with alternate dimensions here. Who are we to say what’s possible and what’s not?”

I gestured to Julia. “Don’t forget that whole Primes-being-different-from-other-people thing. Maybe she’s right, and we have a…connection with the In-Between or something.” I said, remembering the layers of other gates I had seen that Lukas and Radar hadn’t been able to. 

“Like I said, anything’s possible.” Jo said.

I was fairly surprised at how well she was taking all of this. She _had_ seemed a bit stunned at first, but wasn’t as suspicious as I would’ve thought.

Maybe that was because she was younger, and hadn’t dealt with quite as much shit as the rest of us yet. The three or so years before the Admin had been hard on me, when my friends were getting more distant and my faith in the goodness of the world was dying.

Part of me wished I could warn her about all of this, but I knew I couldn’t. To do so would just be to create more deviations, and erode her positivity even quicker.

But still. I hated remembering that _I_ used to be so trusting and lighthearted, and knowing that this girl was going to end up the exact same way.

Focusing on Lukas- whom she still knew as Luis, the mysterious dark-haired man that she hadn’t met yet her own version of -Jo asked, “So, what next? If Essa’s after you, and the deviations are getting worse, what do we do?”

Radar sighed. “Well, we still need to find that missing constant. Then we can figure out how to fix it, and things will go back to normal. Hopefully.”

Jo nodded thoughtfully. “I don’t remember if I mentioned this earlier, but things _have_ been a little…strange, recently. Mobs acting weird, time seeming kind of flexible, stuff just being a little less…predictable. It wasn’t really enough to make me think about it, but adding all this new information to the mix…”

I leaned my elbows on the table we were sitting at, dropping my head into my hands. “Shit, it feels like it’s been so long since I’ve been home. I know it’s only been a little over a week, but it feels like so much longer. Honestly guys, I know we need to figure this out, but I’d _really_ like to go back to my own Beacontown. Even if it’s only for a little while.”

Lukas nodded, and Jo visibly perked up. “Ooooh, you haven’t told me what your Beacontown is like. Is it very different from this one?”

“Well, you gotta remember that it’s five years in the future,” Radar reminded her. “It’s gotten a lot bigger, and just…I don’t want to say _fancier_, because that seems rude, but…”

“More elaborate.” I filled in. “It’s become a really neat place, and I love it. Trust me, yours will be just as cool someday.”

Jo smiled. “That’s good to hear. I’ve been coming up with more plans for this town, and I hope they pay off. I’m not _officially_ the leader here, but I have a feeling I will be.”

“Yeah, you will.” Julia said in an uncharacteristically melancholy voice. I glanced over at her, wondering what had caused that sudden shift in mood, but she didn’t look as upset as her voice had sounded.

“What else happens to me? Any more big bad villains?” she asked.

Lukas and I looked at each other. “I _really_ shouldn’t be telling you your future…but yeah, there is.” I said.

“Including Essa.” Radar added.

Jo nodded briskly. “I promise I’ll keep an eye out. If I see anyone here who even remotely matches your description of her, I swear I’ll be careful.”

“Good. That’s the whole reason we decided to talk to you, really. We don’t know _what_ she’s planning, but we know it involves the timelines and that it’s nothing good. We need all the help we can get.” Julia said, standing up from the table.

Jo stood as well, giving her a little mock salute. “I’m here when you need me.”

We headed back out to the inner entrance of the Hall, and Julia drew her diamond sword. We’d already told Jo about the gates and how they were made, but she still gasped in wonder as Julia drew the shimmering white symbols in the air.

As always, a long downward slash of the sword opened the gate, dousing us all in pure white light. Jo reached forward, the tips of her fingers vanishing into the abyss of white. She gasped again and retracted her hand, still looking awestruck at the gate.

“Holy screaming Phantoms. That’s even more amazing than I thought it would be.” She murmured.

Julia grinned. “I’m sorry we have to cut this so short, but we should go. We’ll be back, though. I promise.”

She disappeared through the gate, and Radar followed her. I was about to go with them, but at the last second, I turned back to Jo.

“Enjoy what you have, Jo. It won’t be like this…it won’t be this good forever. The next few years…”

“_Jess_.” Lukas’s stern voice cut through my words.

Jo looked at me with wide eyes. “Really? It…things change?” she asked. I could tell by the anxious, almost fearful tone of her voice that she’d already been worried about this.

I nodded once, then stepped into the gate before Lukas could chastise me again. 

The perfect white surrounded me for several seconds before I stepped back out into the In-Between. I shuddered slightly, looking around at the strange dimension. It was even more different than before. The sky, which had previously been a beautiful mix of almost-evening blues and periwinkles, was now a wash of ominous greys. The ground seemed faded as well, and in the distance, outside the circle of gates, I could see strange lumps that made the ground look bizarre and disfigured.

Things were definitely changing, and not for the better.

Lukas appeared through the gate behind me, still giving me a sharp look. I instinctively stiffened for a moment at his unfamiliar appearance, but relaxed just as fast. “You shouldn’t have told her that.” he said in an undertone.

I jerked my head irritably, looking away from him. I knew all too well that I shouldn’t have said anything, but I couldn’t help it.

“How would you have felt if you were still in your prime hero years and someone had told _you_ things were about to get bad?” he continued. I turned my head again to give him a sharp glare.

“I would’ve appreciated it, actually. Being warned, instead of just getting tossed into hell unawares? Yeah.”

He opened his mouth, clearly about to argue, but Julia interrupted.

“Oh, Lukas, do you want me to take the mask off now? Since we’re going back to your timeline, it’s not like you need it.”

He visibly forced himself to relax. “Yeah, sure.”

She closed her eyes and made a swiping motion with her hand, and just like that, he was back to normal.

Radar grinned. “Oh, good. Mister Nice-Hair is back.”

Lukas shot him a suspicious look, running a hand over his now-blond hair. Julia laughed. “Don’t listen to him. Your hair was still pretty even in the mask.”

“You know what they say, though, about beauty being in the eye of the beholder.” I said, striding towards the gate that led back to my timeline. Back to _home_.

“Well, at least now I know how you four escaped that prison.” A low female voice remarked.

I froze, and so did the others. I had only heard that tone once or twice, but it was the kind of voice that stuck with you.

A young woman stepped out from behind my gate, wielding a very heavily enchanted, deadly-looking diamond sword.

A young woman with long black hair and a purple bandana over her mouth. 

_Essa_.


	19. Pause

** ▪Lukas’s POV ** ** ▪ **

Essa.

She’d caught up to us. And not only that, but she was blocking our way home.

This wasn’t good.

Jess drew his diamond sword, and Radar pulled his shield from his inventory. Essa made a small sound that may have been a laugh. “Relax, I’m not here to fight.”

“No? Just to trap us in another obsidian prison?” Julia snapped, balling her hands into fists.

“Well, I certainly _hope_ it won’t come to that.” Essa said, sounding vaguely amused. This made me very uncomfortable, for reasons I didn’t know how to describe.

I glanced around, wondering if either of her lackeys were here as well. I thoroughly hoped not, since I was much more confident knowing that she was outnumbered. Besides, it had been utterly, unstoppably creepy to talk to that broken and twisted version of my boyfriend, a version who thought I was _dead_.

No, scratch that. He didn’t just think I was dead. In that timeline, I actually was.

That in itself was too disturbing for words.

“Listen. I fear some mistakes have been made, and all I want to do is correct them.” Essa said smoothly. “We started off on the wrong foot. You came at a bad time, and my choices were limited. But I’ve come to the realization that apart from me, you four are the first people to discover the timelines in, well…a long time. Therefore, I believe we’re better off as allies than enemies.”

_She’s lying._

The instinct hit me like a thrown brick as I mentally recounted all the things we’d heard about her from Jack. Even if she _did_ want to team up, there was no way we could. Not after seeing firsthand all the damage she’d done to her other allies.

The haunting memory of seeing my own name etched on a gravestone resurfaced in my mind, and I shuddered involuntarily.

“I know Jack revealed some of my secrets to you, and he shouldn’t have done that.” She continued. “Many bad things have happened to me in my life, and I wish he’d had enough respect to let me explain them on my own. He doesn’t understand _why_ those things happened…or that all I’m trying to do is fix it all.”

That sounded very ominous to me, but I didn’t get a chance to say anything about it before Julia snarled, “I don’t think it really matters _why_ they happened. The fact is, you’ve gotten basically _all_ of your friends killed, in some way or another. So no, we’re NOT going to be your bait- oh, sorry, I meant _allies._”

Essa didn’t move. “I’m not the enemy here, Julia. You know I will be if I must, but at the moment I’d rather not. I’m just looking for peace, like everyone else in this universe. The world has taken a lot from me, and I’m just trying to get it back.”

I glanced over at Jess. He was scowling, still brandishing his diamond sword. I did _not_ like all her talk about fixing things, and I expected he didn’t either. This was way, way too suspicious.

“Alright then, Essa. _How_ are you getting it back? How are you ‘fixing things’?” Jess asked in a calm voice.

Her eyes crinkled above the bandana, and I had a feeling she was smiling smugly. “That’s the kind of thing you’ll get to learn if you’re on my side.”

“That’s the kind of thing I want to know _before_ I join someone’s side!” Radar exclaimed, and I agreed.

Essa’s dark brown eyes cut to him with a glare so sharp I swear it should’ve made him bleed. Then, with visible effort, she schooled her expression into something calmer. “Unfortunately, that’s not how I work. Being generous with information is a good way to get _betrayed_.”

From the subtly evil look she was still giving him, I assumed she was thinking about the choices that her own version of Radar had made.

_He doesn’t understand why those things happened,_ she had said about Jack. But as far as I could tell, the same was true for her. I believed Jack when he’d said she was responsible for all those deaths, and not only because he _hadn’t_ been the one to lock us up on sight. Essa didn’t seem to know when she was making a mistake, didn’t understand when her choices affected others as well. She was dangerous, in more ways than one.

“No, Essa. If you had wanted to be allies, you shouldn’t have locked us up and lied to us. Now, please get out of our way so we can go home.” Jess ordered. His voice was eerily calm and vaguely threatening, like a dagger hidden beneath a cloak. 

The tall woman still didn’t move, aside from tipping her head slightly towards him. “Really, Jess? When did trust start falling so short for you? Was that at the same time you decided against giving second chances? Before or after you stopped looking up to the future?”

Jess stiffened, and Essa took a small, graceful step towards him. She seemed to know she’d hit a nerve. “You’re wondering how I know about that, hmm? Of course you are; I’d be wondering too. So I’ll tell you this. That darkness? That hesitancy to trust, that failure to keep looking ahead? I have it too. Hell, I _am_ that darkness. I gave up on people a long time ago, and that’s what turned me into who I am today.”

She made another step forward, all predatory elegance. “We all have our demons, Jess. I just chose to feed mine.”

I could see that Jess was absolutely frozen, a war of shock and terror and something else, something darker, going on behind his eyes. It took me a moment to figure out what that ‘something else’ was, and then I almost froze too.

Realization. Acceptance. Essa wasn’t lying about this.

Julia stepped forward. “Shove off, Essa. Go deliver your terrifying villain monologue to someone else. Now get out of our way…” she shut her eyes, and I knew what was coming next.

“…or I _make_ you.”

Essa’s dark eyes widened at the sight of Julia’s Admin ones. She arched a brow, looking a little scared and strangely impressed. “That’s one hell of a deviation.” she commented.

“Yeah, it is. And y’know what would be an even bigger deviation?” Julia asked. She moved forward again, though this time she was levitating instead of walking, her short hair whipping around her face.

“Me scattering the individual bones of your spine to the far corners of the In-Between.” she threatened in a stage-whisper, then grinned. It was a very, _very_ disturbing sight, that innocent little smile under those horrible red and yellow eyes. 

Personally, I wasn’t even sure the In-Between _had_ corners, but it seemed to do the trick. Essa took a step back, still with those wide deer eyes. Then she looked at Jess again, and her fearful expression cleared.

“But of course. Jump through all the gates you like. But trust me: I know more about these timelines than any of you, and there’s nothing that can stop me from getting to my goal.”

“Nothing?” Julia challenged.

Essa’s eyes scrunched again, suggesting another hidden smile. “_Nothing_. Not even a pushy girl with unlikely Admin powers. You are, after all, still mortal.”

I narrowed my eyes, a little concerned by the thinly veiled threat, but Essa wasn’t done yet. 

“So congratulations, you’ve won this round. Next time we meet, though, I wouldn’t bet so hard against me.” She said in a cheery voice that seemed alarmingly genuine. She stepped aside with a dramatic wave of her hand, showing us the clear path to the gate to our timeline.

Julia started towards it, but I grabbed her arm. “You should go last,” I said in an undertone, “in case she tries something. I have a feeling you’re the only one who has even a chance of stopping her.”

She nodded, and instead gestured for Jess to go first. He did, with Radar trailing behind.

It did not escape my notice when Jess glanced briefly over his shoulder. He made it seem like he was looking at Julia, but I could see his conflicted eyes flick to Essa instead. He wasn’t…he couldn’t possibly be considering her crazy offer, right?

I didn’t have too long to dwell on this, though, before he faced forward again and walked through the gate. I hurried after, and heard Julia following.

The brilliant white surrounded me just like always, making me feel like I was walking right through the void itself. God, but this whole situation was just so _creepy_. I swear everything that even remotely had to do with the timelines freaked me the hell out.

Luckily, it was only a few seconds before I was stepping out the other side. The first thing I noticed was that it was daytime again, bright and warm. The sun was just barely beginning to sink lower, the late afternoon not yet transforming into evening.

The second thing I noticed was that Jess and Radar were both in very high spirits. Jess was grinning like an idiot, and Radar was just about beside himself with laugher.

“What? What happened?” I asked, also smiling. Radar’s giggling tended to be a very contagious thing.

Jess jabbed his thumb towards the purple-terracotta wall I hadn’t even noticed we were standing next to.

Purple terracotta…?

I glanced quickly around. Yep, we were literally standing _right_ outside Beacontown. “How…the hell.” 

“And here I was thinking there wasn’t a god!” Radar managed through his fit of laughter. “I-I mean logically I know it’s just a Prime thing but _seriously_ Lukas you should’ve seen it, when Jess saw where we were he just did this super obnoxious smile and was all ‘wow, I guess I’m god now’, and _holy crap why is this so funny_.”

Julia had appeared in the middle of this explanation and was surveying the wall with an amused look. “Huh. I guess Jo was right. Were you like…literally picturing us standing in this exact spot? Because that’s pretty freaking precise.”

“Yeah, basically.” Jess said with a shameless grin. “Radar, are you alive?”

“I’m…yeah I’m fine.” The younger boy said with a slight wheeze on the last word.

“Good. I’m eager to be home.” Jess started walking towards the gate, beckoning for us to follow.

I felt myself relax as the gates opened and we walked inside. This was our Beacontown. This was where we were safe, where I didn’t have to worry about people recognizing me and throwing off the order of the universe.

Jess was smiling easily as we headed in the general direction of the Order Hall. People called out to him as we passed, casual hellos and Jesses and where-have-you-beens.

Radar, on the other hand, looked slightly grim. “It’s a little weird being back like this. You know, this whole triumphant return thing when really, it’s not over yet.”

“I didn’t even think about that.” I admitted. “But even if we’re not done with this, it _is_ good to be home for a little while.”

“Lukas _freaking_ Porter, where the ACTUAL HELL have you _been_?!”

I turned around just in time to see a tall brown-haired man come running towards us. I laughed joyfully as he hugged me, hiding my face in my boyfriend’s shoulder as I returned the embrace.

“Do you have _any_ idea how worried I was?! Really REALLY worried! Three-anxiety-attacks-a-day worried! You just _disappeared,_ and I had no idea what to think! Stop _laughing_, you asshole. It’s not fucking funny.” Aiden exclaimed. 

I pulled away enough to look up at him, not trying as hard as I should’ve been to contain my laughter. It was so, _so_ good to be with him again. “I take that to mean you missed me?”

“Of course I _missed you_, what did I just say about being worried? God.” Aiden said with an exaggerated eyeroll. He was still grinning, despite his words.

I laughed again, and Aiden made a stern face. “Okay, I know this whole relationship thing is still pretty new for both of us, but I’m pretty sure most people don’t go galivanting off on random adventures without warning their significant other. So please, do _not_ do that again. Like, ever.”

“I had a _really _good reason, I swear. World-saving kind of stuff.” I tried. Aiden relaxed slightly, smiling gently. “Typical.”

Jess cleared his throat loudly. Aiden startled slightly and turned to face him, looping an arm around my waist. “Hey, Jess. I take it you’re the one who dragged him on a new adventure?”

“More or less, yeah.” Jess shrugged. I was grateful that he was making an effort to be civil to Aiden. I knew full well that Jess didn’t trust him at all, but at least he wasn’t glaring murderously this time.

Aiden grinned. “Figured as much. Hi, Radar, and hello person-I-don’t-know.” 

“I, um…I’m Julia.” she said. I could tell she was trying very hard not to stare at Aiden, which was understandable. In her timeline, he wasn’t around anymore.

I suddenly wondered if this was the only dimension in which the two of us were together. I knew there were at least two timelines in which one of us was dead, and that I was still with Petra in another. How had things worked out between us in the other realities, the ones where both of us were alive?

I leaned into him slightly. Hell, for all I knew, maybe there _weren’t_ any other timelines in which we were both alive.

“So, what in the Overworld have you been up to that required you to disappear into thin air for so long?” Aiden asked. Surprisingly enough, his words weren’t sarcastic or upset, just curious. 

Jess looked at Julia, then at me. “Uh…that’s kind of a…_really_ long explanation.” He hedged. “And I’m…not sure if we should even tell you.”

Aiden frowned slightly, seeming a little hurt. “Okay…why not?”

“It’s not about you, I swear. It’s just kind of sensitive information? The kind that people…aren’t really supposed to know, so I’m just not sure if we should bring you into this.” Jess added.

I shook my head. “I beg to differ, actually. He deserves to know.”

Now it was Jess’s turn to scowl. “Lukas, technically speaking, not even you or Radar are supposed to know about this. I told you, it throws off the-”

“I don’t care, alright? With everything that’s happened, I think telling him is justified. He might even be able to help.” I argued. Jess crossed his arms, giving me a hard stare.

Aiden was looking between the two of us, somewhat nervously. He shot me a questioning look that I couldn’t interpret, then glanced away again.

Jess sighed. “Fine, tell him whatever. But do it on your own time- I’m sure there’s a lot to be done in this town after all the time we’ve been gone.”

“Oh, gravel. You’re right! We’re so behind on everything; my to-do list is days and days out of date!” Radar exclaimed suddenly.

Aiden laughed. “Don’t worry, kid. Things have been going pretty smoothly, even with no one officially in charge. Well, as smoothly as Beacontown gets, anyways. This place seems pretty wild even on a good day.”

“Right, you’re used to your quiet little Landfall, huh?” I asked playfully. “I warned you that things are pretty different here.”

Jess turned to look at Julia. “You don’t seem too concerned with your Be- uhh, your town, even though you’ve been away even longer than us.”

She shrugged. “R- ah, my intern and my girlfriend are holding down the fort. They might not get along perfectly well, but I think I can trust them.”

Aiden gave me another quizzical look. I shook my head, signifying that I’d explain later. 

“Well, then you can help me survey the town, just walk around and check that everything’s fine. Besides, I’m sure these two want some _alone time_.” Jess said to my boyfriend and I, his voice heavy with sarcasm. I was about to say something snarky when Aiden interrupted.

“Yes!” he said brightly. “Lots and lots of alone time, so Lukas can _explain where the hell he’s been_.”

I did not miss the darker tone his voice slipped into, nor the way his fingers tightened on my waist. Oh, but he was _not_ happy with me. He may be relieved that I was back, and was putting on a good show of positivity, but I knew I was going to get one hell of a lecture for disappearing on him.

“I think I’ll head back to the Order Hall with Lukas, see if there’s anything there I need to take care of. I’ll catch up with you two in a bit.” Radar said to Jess as he and Julia turned to go.

Julia paused just before starting to walk off, glancing back at Aiden. “Listen…” she started quietly.

“I know you don’t know me at all, but I wanted to say that I’m…I’m happy for you. It’s really good to see that you got a second chance here, even though things were bad for a while. It’s hard to explain how glad I am that things turned out okay. And again, I know you have no idea what I mean, but trust me. Things could’ve been a lot worse, and it’s nice to see that they’re not.”

Aiden was watching her with surprised eyes. “I, ah…”

“You don’t have to try to say anything. Lukas will explain it all.” She said with a slightly sheepish smile. 

“Oh, yeah. Throw _me_ under the minecart, why don’t you.” I shot back insincerely. Julia just grinned mischievously as she turned again and walked off with Jess.

Aiden gave me a look. “You…_are_ going to explain that, right? Because I’m completely lost. How does she know me, and why did she seem so…?”

“Familiar?” I guessed, smiling up at him. He was strangely adorable when he was confused. 

“Yeah. I…I don’t actually know her, do I? I don’t remember ever meeting her, but she obviously knew me, and there’s just…she…_what?”_

I laughed as we headed towards the Order Hall, still with our arms looped around each other. “Don’t worry. I swear there’s a good explanation for it all.”

Radar was a little way ahead of us, and he spun around, walking backwards so as to properly address Aiden. “Well, a…_decent_ explanation, always. It’s pretty complicated.”

Aiden arched a brow. “I’ll take your word for it, for now.”

We split up when we reached the Hall, Radar heading towards his little office on one side of the building, and Aiden and I heading up the stairs to my old room. I was kind of dreading having to explain the timelines to him, since there was so much of it that even _I_ didn’t understand, but like I’d told Jess, he deserved to know.

However, instead of demanding an immediate explanation, Aiden kissed me as soon as he knew we were alone. He pressed me gently against the closed door, hands still gripping my waist.

I lifted my hands and ran them through his long hair, smiling into the kiss as I realized that I’d missed him even more than I’d originally thought I had.

The moment wasn’t hot or intense like our kisses could be sometimes. It was soft and relieved, with a hint of desperation. Just the two of us reveling in the simple fact that we were together again. It hadn’t really been that long apart, but everything feels longer when you’re missing someone.

“I’m so glad you’re back. I’m so glad you’re _safe._” he murmured against my neck. He lifted his head to look me in the eyes again, fingers still tangled in the fabric of my t-shirt. “Lukas…I was _so_ worried. I know I was being a goof about it earlier, but I was terrified. I’d barely seen you at all the previous week, and then you just up and _vanished_…”

He swallowed, shaking his head. “Don’t do that again. I’m serious. I understand that you were an adventurer first, but I can’t deal with anyone just disappearing like that. Especially not you.”

“I’m sorry.” I whispered, gently brushing a lock of brown hair away from his green eyes. “I should’ve tried harder to find you before we left.”

“Yeah, you should’ve. I thought you were _dead_.” He murmured back. “Actually, no, that’s not even true. I didn’t know what the hell to think. You were gone, and I couldn’t even ask anyone where you were, because Jess and Radar were gone too and no one else knew. It was so scary, and I’m _so_ mad at you.”

He didn’t seem mad, though, when he kissed me again. This one was even more wonderful, slower and somehow more genuine than before. This was the type of kiss we usually shared late at night, during the times we’d lay awake talking and cuddling instead of trying to catch some sleep.

For some reason, this made me think of what Jess had said about Aiden and me, how he was just a replacement for Petra and I wasn’t really in love with him. 

Truth be told…that _had_ been the case, at least in the beginning of our relationship. I was still freshly broken up with Petra when he’d cautiously revealed his feelings for me, and I will admit that in the first few weeks of us being together, my mind was still on her.

But then it had changed. I still don’t remember exactly what had caused that shift, and maybe it wasn’t one sole event at all. But for some reason or another, I suddenly wasn’t still stuck on Petra at all.

It was his mouth that mine remembered, and his body that I caught myself daydreaming about, and his smile that I tried to seek out. Somewhere along the line, I’d fallen for him harder than I could’ve imagined.

And what I had told Jess, up in that treehouse in that hauntingly still night, was true as well. I _didn’t_ care what he thought about Aiden and I being together. If he got over it, great, but I wasn’t going to force him. If he was going to continue to be a dick about it, so what. I was past the point of requiring his approval.

Of course, I’d be much happier if he did end up coming around. The rift that had formed between us was an unpleasant one, but in my opinion, it wasn’t my job to try to cross it.

Aiden pulled away, his face still hovering near mine as he whispered, “Okay, you’re forgiven. I’m too glad you’re back; I can’t be mad anymore.”

I grinned. “Really?”

“Really. Therefore, I’m ready to hear whatever craziness you’re about to unleash on me.” He said, taking a small step back.

I exhaled tiredly. “Alright. I’ll do my best.”

\----

We ended up folded on my bed as I recounted the adventure, with him lying on his side, propping himself up on one elbow, and me sitting halfway up and leaning back against him. It was a strangely comfortable position, one that we’d settled easily into even back when we were kids talking about story ideas.

It took me a long time to explain everything, tell the full story right from the beginning. He’d already known about a little bit, at least Jess’s strange map and the hidden room full of strange investigations, but that was about it.

He had a ton of questions, about basically everything. I could tell he wanted to believe me, but had a hard time understanding a lot of it. I guessed this was because of what Jess had said, that people weren’t supposed to know about the timelines.

I told him about how I’d met Julia, and what she’d said had happened to the Aiden of her timeline. I told him about the trip to the Far Lands, and Ivor’s abandoned research. The whole adventure came spilling out, piece by piece. Other than asking an assortment of questions, he stayed mostly still and silent, listening intently.

The only time he really moved was when I told him about Essa’s timeline and everything that had happened there. He pushed himself into a sitting position, eyes narrowed.

“Wait a minute. You’re _honestly_ telling me there was an evil version of _me_? And that I…_he_ was siding with that madwoman?”

His movement had forced me to sit up as well. “Yeah. It was pretty freaky.”

“And…you didn’t recognize him right away? What kind of boyfriend _are_ you?” he asked jokingly, gently shoving my shoulder.

“I told you, he had a bandana over like half his face!” I protested. “Not to mention that he wasn’t as pretty as you. His nose was broken, and he had a horrible scar. It kinda threw me off.”

He gave me a mock-suspicious look. “How bad _was_ said scar?”

I reached over and gently traced the path down his face; from the left eyebrow, down the side of his nose, to the right side of his jaw. His eyes widened slightly. “That’s pretty bad.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure how it could’ve happened, but apparently he was with Essa through most of her adventures, so honestly; it could’ve been anything.” 

I continued with the story, explaining how we’d gotten out of prison and met Jack. I watched his expression become more and more horrified as I described the graveyard, the seven dull stones with all-too-familiar names carved into them.

He didn’t say anything as he laid back down into the earlier position we’d been in, but I saw the fear in his eyes. The graveyard was something that had made the whole adventure just a little too _real_, the solid proof that there was a reality out there in which I didn’t exist anymore.

Aiden remained quiet for several seconds more after I’d finally finished talking. I could hear faint voices from downstairs, assumedly Jess and Julia back from their tour of the town.

I looked cautiously over at Aiden’s face. He hadn’t moved, staring straight ahead but looking at nothing.

“So…that’s where I’ve been all this time.”

His green eyes darted upwards, focusing on me. “Huh.” he said simply. “That’s…not exactly what I was expecting, but I’ve certainly gotta hand it to you. You know how to pick your adventures.”

I laughed hollowly. “Yeah, no kidding.”

“Man, I don’t even know where to start with this. Alternate dimensions are one thing, but then you start adding other languages and Admin powers and paradoxes into the mix and it’s just…” he trailed off, making a vague motion with the hand he wasn’t leaning on.

“Trust me, this is exactly how I felt.” I said.

“It is not. You had time to process it all, in between the other things happening.” he argued.

“Maybe, but I actually had to deal with the _other things happening_.” I reminded, poking him in the chest.

He laughed. “Okay, you’ve got me there.”

After a moment of debating whether or not to say what was on my mind, I said, “I kind of…I wish Jess had never found that stupid map. That’s what started everything, really. That, and his crazy obsessive need to get involved in every potential adventure that looks his way.”

My voice came out more bitter than I’d intended. Aiden’s brows furrowed, and he gave me a look. “Wait, you’re not _still_ in that fight with Jess, are you?”

I huffed. I’d been forced to explain to him what had happened between Jess and I on the way back from the old Order’s temple, when I had stomped into the house still fuming. “Kind of. We never…we moved on from it, but we never actually talked about it. You know how it is.” I explained halfheartedly.

“Lukas…” he said in a tone of voice that sounded half exasperated and half sad. “Talk to him, then. This isn’t worth bombing your friendship over.”

“It’s not bombing our friendship!” I protested. “It’s just…not improving it.”

This earned me another look, definitely more exasperated than sad. “I’m serious. Don’t fight with Jess. He’s your best friend.”

Now it was my turn to scowl at him. “Are you _really_ lecturing me on not fighting with friends? _You?”_

“Yes! Because I’ve seen first-hand what happens when you let your friendships deteriorate!” he exclaimed indignantly. “With the rest of the Order split up, I know you and Jess need each other’s support. Even if you’re technically ‘_not fighting’_ in that weird way of yours, you still need to make up. So yes, I _am_ lecturing you. From the sound of it, you were both responsible, and you both need to fix it. Otherwise it’s just going to make even more of a mess of this whole thing. Alright?”

I looked at him in silence for a few moments. It was times like this that it really hit me how long it had been, and how much he had changed. If you’d told me five years ago that the rage-fueled boy who’d nearly sent me falling to my death would now be encouraging me to mend things with my best friend, I’d have thought you were crazy.

But no, that’s what was happening.

“Fine,” I sighed. “I’ll talk to him. I can’t guarantee it’ll go well, but I’ll try.” 

He grinned triumphantly. “Good.”

We were both silent for another couple moments, thinking.

“What are you going to do next? About…the whole timeline, deviations…thing.” he asked, so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.

I sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. It’s really up to Jess and Julia, since they seem to have the best grasp of what’s going on. I’m still not sure how all of this fits together. We found out that thing about the ‘missing constant’ pretty early on, but we don’t know what to do about it. And we still have no idea of Essa’s plan, or what exactly has been throwing off the timelines. Those last two are _probably_ connected, but I just…I don’t know.”

“Well…whatever happens, you know I’ll be right there with you. I want to be able to help.” he murmured, reaching over to gently stroke my hair. I leaned into the affectionate touch, closing my eyes. Being back with him was wonderful, but it was hard to forget that this wasn’t over, not by a long shot.

“We’ve gotta stop Essa somehow. She’s up to something nefarious, something that’s going to wreck the timelines even more.” I said. “You should’ve heard her, back in the In-Between. And the worst part is, I think _we’re_ part of her plan somehow. It’s such a mess.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but honestly, it sounds like the only way to stop her would be to, I dunno, go back in time and get her right at the begin…ing…”

Aiden trailed off, his fingers stilling in my hair. I opened my eyes and sat fully upright, watching his face carefully. He didn’t seem to notice this, staring ahead at nothing again with an expression that was half amazed, half puzzled.

“What?” I murmured.

He tilted his head slightly, still looking past me, and said in a mystified tone, “Your…the things. They’re not called dimensions, or realities, or anything like that. They easily could be, but they’re not. They’re _timelines._”

I shook my head slightly, not understanding. Aiden’s eyes had widened, and he sat up, looking directly at me again. “Timelines_, _Lukas! They’re different variations of the same _time!_ And…and you said that messing with them starts to affect reality…So what if, by screwing around with the variables and deviations and whatever, someone could actually _affect_ the passage of time?!” 

“Oh…my god.” I breathed. Thoughts whirled through my head faster than I could say the words. “Of course. _Timelines_. They’re-they’re…she’s gonna turn back time. _That’s _why she’s upsetting the balance. That’s what she was talking about, with her whole ‘fixing things’ mantra. If she gets enough chaos, enough things out of sync, it could throw the universe off so much that someone could actually _change the past_. She…she wants her friends back, she literally admitted it. Oh my _god_, Aiden, you’re a genius.”

He smiled briefly. “I know. But…do you think that’s even possible? The time-reversal thing?”

“Probably. It’s not that far a stretch from some of the other things that have happened these past few days. And we really don’t know the extent of what Primes could do, so there’s no reason this wouldn’t fit right in with everything else. I can’t _believe _it.”

I leaped up from the bed. “We gotta tell Jess! Come on!”

I didn’t even check if he was with me as I threw the door open and bolted down the stairs, calling Jess’s name. My friend’s dark head leaned out of the storage room, questions written all over his face. I skidded to a stop just outside the room, with Aiden right behind me.

“What’s going on?” Jess asked. I paused, trying to catch my breath.

“We think we know what Essa’s doing.”


	20. Volatile Theories

I stared back at Lukas’s excited blue eyes, unsure if I had heard right. “You _what?”_

“Essa’s plan. We think we figured it out. Or part of it, at least.” he repeated. Yeah, apparently I had heard him right, unbelievable as it may seem.

I stepped aside, letting him and Aiden into the storage room. Radar closed the chest he had been looking through. “Seriously? _How_?!”

“Okay, so I told Aiden about the timelines and the whole adventure, right. He knows just as much as we do- or, as I do, actually.” Lukas started, gesturing to the other man. “Anyways, we were just talking and theorizing and whatever, and he realized something about the timelines.”

Aiden spoke up then. “Even with all the deviations and stuff, these different dimensions are all still variations of the same time. So my idea was, since the timelines being messed up affects the logic of the universe, is it possible to use the timelines to _turn back time_?”

“Essa wants her friends back, she basically told us that with all her ‘I’m-just-trying-to-fix-things’ bullshit. And we’ve already proven that you Primes are a little different than most people, so Essa could be creating deviations and stuff in order to mess with the timelines and change her past. It makes total sense, in a completely whacked sort of way.” Lukas continued.

I stared at him, openmouthed. It _did_ add up, with everything we knew about the timelines in general and Essa’s specifically.

Radar slapped a hand against his forehead. “Oh my _god! _That-that’s…you’re right! It completely fits! Timelines, of _course_!”

“I kind of can’t believe I didn’t think about it before.” Julia said. “It’s so obvious. I mean, I’ve considered why they’re called timelines, but never in-depth enough to put the pieces together. I have no idea how one would even do that, but Essa _was_ boasting about knowing more about the timelines than any of us.”

“Yeah, same here.” Lukas put in, nodding to Julia. “Besides, remember what Jo said? Who are we to say what’s possible?”

I tapped a finger against my chin, thinking. “This isn’t quite enough information, though. We still don’t know _how_ she’s doing this, or how she even learned about any of this in the first place. Call me paranoid, but that’s what’s freaking me out the most.”

“No, I thought that too. There’s something fishy with Essa.” Aiden agreed. “Lukas told me she’d apparently been studying the timelines for years, but what does that _mean_?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. We’re gonna have to look into this better, if we can.”

Lukas exhaled heavily. “_If we can_ is right. If Essa figures out what we know, we’re gonna be in _trouble_. Assuming, of course, that we’re even right about this. We could be thinking about this all wrong.”

“I don’t know. This seems pretty right to me.” Radar said. “And if we’re willing to risk it, there might be someone back in Essa’s timeline who’d be willing to help us, someone who knew her well enough to know her plan.”

“I’m not sure, Radar. It seemed like she kept her secrets pretty close.” I objected quietly.

He shrugged. “Might be worth a shot, if we can’t think of anything better.” 

“Alright, great. So we’ve figured out what she’s doing, and why. How do we _stop _her? Because we _cannot_ let this happen.” Julia asked, raising her left eyebrow.

The rest of us looked at each other for a few seconds. Aiden opened his mouth, then shut it again with an audible _snap_ when he realized he was just as clueless as the rest of us.

“Talking to her’s out of the question, right?” Radar asked. Julia shot him a look. “_Definitely. _And in any case,I don’t think she’d be willing to negotiate after we so firmly turned down her stupid ‘alliance’ trap.”

Lukas crossed his arms, looking uncomfortable. “Well…I can think of _one _way. It’s not pretty, though.”

“Yeah?” I asked, unable to keep the hope out of my voice. Lukas cleared his throat and gave me a cagey look, but didn’t say anything else.

I stared at him for a moment, not comprehending, before it hit me.

“Oh. Well…yes, I suppose that’s an option. But I don’t like the look of this scenario if what should be our last resort is currently Plan A.”

“Wait, you don’t mean…we can’t _kill_ Essa?” Radar asked, his voice cracking with nerves.

Julia scowled at no one in particular. “Why not? She seems like she wants to do just as bad to us, does she not? You heard how she was talking in the In-Between.” she pointed out.

“Actually, I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea.” Aiden cut in. Julia’s glare lifted to him, and he hesitantly backpedaled. “Okay, yeah, I don’t know about her as well as any of you do. But do we know what’ll happen if a Prime gets killed? That’d be a pretty massive deviation, so wouldn’t it ruin stuff even _more_?”

Julia held her glower for a moment more, than cursed quietly. “Dammit. You’re probably right. I _don’t_ know how a Prime’s death would affect things, especially one who was killed by another Prime. We might really screw stuff up.”

Lukas snorted. “Yeah, like it’s not screwed up enough as is?”

“Okay, wait. Aiden’s got a point.” I said. “But what if there’s a loophole to that? Like maybe it _won’t_ screw things up if she’s killed or not killed by another Prime? Or…in her timeline versus another? Or even the In-Between?”

Now it was Radar who gave me an anxious look. “I thought we just decided against killing her…?”

I shook my head. “Obviously, we’ll do anything we can to avoid that. But Radar, this could get dire.” I said gently.

“If killing off Essa will undo all the shit she’s done, I am all for it.” Julia contributed. 

“_But what if it does something horrible?”_ Aiden pressed. “What if, say, killing a Prime erases their entire timeline?”

This earned another disdainful noise from Lukas. “Honestly, I think that might be for the best. Essa’s dimension is pretty fucked up.”

Aiden pointed at him. “Yes, but if she realizes you guys are trying to take her out, wouldn’t that validate her using lethal force against you? Which would risk either our or Julia’s timeline being destroyed. And, forgive me, but I _really _don’t feel like having my entire existence deleted.”

Julia looked down her nose at him. “Stop helping. You’re making this so much more confusing.”

“I’m just trying to be logical.” he objected, lifting his hands in a surrendering motion.

Radar crossed his arms loosely and bit his lower lip, a sign that he was thinking hard. “So then what _can_ we do?” he muttered. “She won’t listen to us, and we don’t want to kill her unless we have to. What options does this leave us with?”

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “I don’t know. Essa’s obviously unstable, and we just don’t know enough about this to make a plan.”

“I think we should do what Radar said. Go back to her timeline and see what we can figure out.” Julia suggested. “I can use my Admin powers to disguise us, and maybe we can dig around her base or something.”

“It’d be risky, but it might work.” Lukas agreed.

I glanced out the window at the town. “Sure. But not now. There’s a couple other things I still need to take care of, and we should bother to actually have a _plan_ this time, instead of jumping blind.” Julia winced as I said this, but I hadn’t been trying to guilt-trip her.

“So, what, we go tomorrow?” She asked.

I shrugged. “Sure. Assuming, of course, that nothing new comes barreling into our lives before then.”

Aiden snickered quietly, then caught himself and transformed it into an unconvincing cough. I gave him a look. “Don’t think I’m joking. You never know what can happen in the space of an _hour,_ much less a day.”

“Yeah, no, I know. I…I know. I’m just…” he made a vague rolling motion with his hand. “Not used to being part of any of this ‘quest’ madness anymore.”

Radar’s laugh was uncharacteristically harsh and sarcastic. “Oh, been _there_, Aiden. And trust me- as soon as you have to say that, you know you’re about to be in it deep.”

  
\--------- 

Soon after that, I went back out into my beloved town that I’d been gone from for too long. As important and interesting as this adventure was, I regretted having to leave Beacontown for so long.

Aiden had been right, though. Most everything was just fine. There were the few little problems here and there, but they were solved easily enough, especially since people were so relieved that I was back.

Even the things I had to sort through and deal with were still welcome. They were classic Beacontown things, which made for a colossal relief after the craziness of the past few days. All my friends and acquaintances were more than happy to see that I’d returned, which lifted my spirits quite a bit.

Unfortunately, I had more on my mind than I allowed myself to let on. I was glad we’d pieced together at least a little bit of Essa’s plan, but it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t sure it would ever be enough.

If all went well tomorrow, we should have more information about the mess that was Essa’s timeline, and what exactly she was planning to do to fix it. The time reversal theory seemed unsettlingly plausible, but _how_ would she carry that out?

Always with the questions. Again and again, I ended up with more queries than I could answer.

It was late evening, and I stood up on the bridge that spanned the main street, watching the last throes of sunlight disappear from the horizon. Behind me, the moon would soon be rising above the gates.

The slight breeze that tousled my hair was pleasantly warm, and it carried faint hints of conversations up to me from people walking below. The bridge was one of my very favorite places in the whole town, the oak planks strung high enough between the two jungle trees that I could look down at the whole center of town. It was especially peaceful at this time, the beginning of night when no one else was around.

Well, almost no one else.

“I thought I’d find you up here.” A familiar voice said conversationally. I turned to see Lukas stepping out onto the bridge, walking cautiously towards me.

I smiled thinly. “Hey. What’s up?”

He stood beside me, leaning his arms on the dark-oak fence. “Aaahh…you know.”

I decided not to point out the fact that I obviously did _not_ know. He wouldn’t look directly at me, making the silence between us stretch on somewhat awkwardly.

I knew that there were still some things that needed to be said, stuff between us that needed to be addressed. But I wasn’t sure how to start. I’ve never been good at starting difficult conversations. I’m a pro at saying comforting things, and I can pull a motivational speech out of thin air like nobody’s business, but I can’t for the life of me manage to start talking to a friend about something I _know_ is going to be difficult.

It was just like that night up in the treehouse. I felt like I’d already said too much, already asked my questions, though I knew I hadn’t really said anything at all.

Luckily, Lukas didn’t have the same problem with this as I did.

“I’m sorry, by the way. Honestly, I…I don’t even remember what started it all, but we’ve been in this weird unspoken fight ever since the beginning of this whole mess, and I want to be done with it. I hate arguing with you, even when it’s this strange kind of not-fighting that we do. It’s just making this whole situation so much harder, and we really…don’t need that right now. So I’m sorry.”

I exhaled slowly. I was so, _so_ lucky to have him as a friend. “Me too. And same here, I can’t even remember what started it. We were both just pushing each other too hard at the wrong time, I guess.”

He nodded. “Yeah, something like that.”

We were silent for another few moments, though this stretch of quiet was significantly more comfortable than the one before. I remembered, suddenly, that there _had_ been a specific thing that had sparked this fight. And it had been entirely my fault.

I shifted my weight, glancing over at the taller man for a moment. 

“Look, Lukas. I really do need to say that I’m…I’m _so_ sorry. This could’ve all been avoided if I’d just…” I sighed heavily, unsure if I’d even manage to say what I was trying to.

Lukas looked genuinely confused, bless him. “Just what?”

“Just stopped being such a jerk about your relationship with Aiden. I know we mostly already dealt with all this, but I just realized that I never really apologized. You’re right; I should’ve accepted that he was different a long time ago. I…I wasn’t being fair to either of you, and I’m sorry.” I told him softly.

He shrugged. “It’s alright. I’m not mad anymore. I understand why you didn’t trust him; you had every right not to.”

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t. I’ve been holding onto some things for too long, and I don’t wanna do that. He _is_ different now. Even though you’d already been saying it, and I’d seen it before, today really showed me how wrong I was. He may have been trouble in the past, but hell. _I_ was trouble in the past.”

Lukas watched me silently, like he knew I had more on my mind.

I glanced away, looking down at the Redstone lamps that illuminated the town. Looking _anywhere_ but at him. “Now that I’ve seen how dark and unstable Essa is, how she was so deep in her own anger-fueled world that she couldn’t see when ‘bad’ things were a blessing in disguise…I don’t want to become like that. I _can’t_ become like that.”

Lukas’s voice hardened slightly. “Jess. You’re _nothing_ like Essa.”

I lifted my head to look at him again, desperation leaking into my voice. “But I _am!_ All of us Primes have things in common, _especially_ Essa and I. Sure, we’ve obviously made some different choices, but the motives behind them were the same. Deep down, I’m sure she thinks she’s just trying to protect herself and her friends, and that is _exactly_ what I’m doing.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “Lukas, I have that same darkness that Essa described, though I put more effort into hiding it. I could be just as dangerous as her, just as terrifyingly vengeful. I have the potential to fall just as far as she has.”

“You react to that darkness differently, though. You might have similar motives, but like you just said, you do different things because of them. You’re a protector, not a destroyer.” Lukas said carefully. He moved closer to me, our shoulders touching side-by-side.

I relaxed, letting my shoulders slump. “That’s what I’m trying to say. We’re similar, but I hope that we’re different enough in the ways that will prevent me from becoming like her. I can’t slip over that edge. I just can’t.”

“Jess, if you start going dark, I’ll be here to pull you back. I swear it.” he promised.

“What if you won’t, though?” I countered. My voice sounded too loud, too aggressive, but I hardly noticed. “What if you have your own life, and I have mine, and I end up _gone_ before either of us have a chance to even notice, much less do something about it? I…I _want_ to be different, and we both know I’ll try my hardest to be, but what if…what if this is just my future? I know her timeline is so unlike ours it’s insane, but…what if that’s just a constant? What if all of us Primes are going to end up down that road?”

Lukas’s silence was a melancholy one. I was looking away from him again, but I could feel his sad blue eyes on me. We were both quiet for several minutes, leaving my heavy, upset words hanging in the air between us.

“I’m sorry, Jess. I…I don’t know what to do.”

I let out a deep sigh, resting my elbows on the dark-oak fence and hiding my face in my hands. “God, why can’t things ever be easy.”

“Because then it wouldn’t be life?” he suggested.

I glanced halfheartedly up at him again. “I’m just…the whole point I wanted to make was that I’m happy for you. I’m glad that you’re in a relationship with someone you really care about, and it’s even better that you managed to fix a friendship that got wrecked so long ago. I’m sorry I was being such a jerk, and I just hope that we can hang onto this life. Maybe you’re right, and this’ll turn out fine, but I just…”

I lifted my head to stare up at the stars that were beginning to grow brighter with the loss of the sun. “It’s just hard sometimes.”

Lukas rested his arm around my shoulders. “I know. Trust me, Jess, I know. But I’m here for you. We all are. I swear, even if I _am_ dealing with my own life, I’ll try my hardest to keep you steady. You’re my best friend, alright? I’m not about give up on you, and I promise I won’t let you down.”

I smiled. It was thin and fleeting, but a smile nonetheless. “Trust _me_, Lukas. I don’t think you have the capacity to let me down.” 

“See? You’re not going dark anytime soon. Not on my watch.” He said, shaking my shoulders gently. Then he stepped slightly away, gesturing towards the building that led back down to the ground. “So, should we head back to the Hall and try to get some sleep? It sounds like we’re gonna have a pretty wild day tomorrow.”

I followed him back down from the bridge, and we walked back to the large glass and quartz building together. No more words were exchanged, but that was okay. I was feeling much more at peace than I had the whole day.

Now, if only I had a jot of confidence that tomorrow would go just as well.


	21. When Parallels Meet

** ▪Lukas’s POV ** ** ▪ **

I jolted awake, yanked out of sleep by something I didn’t know.

My heart hammering, I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. I couldn’t remember what I had been dreaming of just a few moments before, but it hadn’t been pleasant.

The night was completely silent, though that could’ve just been my sleep-dulled senses failing to catch on to anything suspicious. I reached up and shakily pushed a lock of hair away from my face, then let my arm fall thoughtlessly to the side as I closed my eyes again.

Maybe it had just been my dreams that woke me up. There wasn’t anything else around that could’ve shaken me awake.

I was just barely starting to doze again when I realized something, my eyes snapping back open.

I sat upright, my mind spinning into uncomfortable possibilities and my fingers curling into the blankets on top of the empty bed beside me.

Empty.

Where the hell was Aiden?

I scrambled out of bed, my bare feet making only the smallest _thump_ as they hit the floor. I’d basically been using his chest as a pillow when we fell asleep, so I’m not sure how he’d managed to get up without disturbing me.

But he had.

The place where he’d been was still fairly warm, so he couldn’t have been gone long. The door was still slightly ajar, and I pushed it further open as I stepped hesitantly out into the hall. I wasn’t sure where he would’ve gone.

I already knew that he was a light sleeper. Not as bad as Jess, but he tended to still be pretty alert. Even if he had heard a noise or something, though, why would he have left? If had been something he’d thought was suspicious, wouldn’t he have woken me?

Unless there was something completely different going on.

My nerves were very on edge as I crept down the stairs, nervous hands toying unconsciously with the ties of my sweatpants. The inside of the Order Hall was not very well-lit at night, especially now that Jess was the only one consistently sleeping there. There were torches here and there, and the faint light of the moon came in through some of the exterior walls, but it wasn’t enough to eradicate the long shadows that hid ominously in the corners.

It made me even more uncomfortable than I already was, and I rubbed my hands along my upper arms, listening hard. I thought I heard…what sounded vaguely like whispers?

This was too ominous for words.

I saw Aiden as soon as I stepped off the stairs. He stood in the hall that stretched along the north side of the building, with his back partially to me.

“Aiden?” I called in a whisper.

He whirled around, his eyes bright with fear and his handsome face going deathly pale. “Lukas…no. Go…go back. Y-you didn’t see me, alright? Go back.”

His voice was even quieter than mine, and radiating desperation. I stepped closer, frowning in confusion as I looked him over. He was still in the same t-shirt and sweatpants that he had been earlier, and he wasn’t holding anything. What was going on?

Then my gaze lifted past him, and I froze as well.

They were almost- _almost_ -completely disguised in the shadows. In the faded moonlight, I couldn’t make out their faces at first, just the glint of narrowed eyes.

One of them stepped forward, and my eyes darted downwards to the unmistakable shine of an enchanted sword blade.

“Who…”

I hadn’t even fully got the word out before they moved forward again, and the dull yellow light from the torch behind us fell on their face. _Her_ face; at least the parts we could see, that weren’t hidden beneath a bandana or shadowed by coal-black hair.

Essa.

_Oh, no._

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” she said in a low voice. “Though, if we’re being technical, I’m not sure that _you_ qualify as fire. Maybe…sparks, or embers, or something. Whatever.”

“What…what are you doing here?” I asked, barely breathing.

Her eyes scrunched in that way that implied she was smiling. “I _need _something, something I know I can find here.” She adjusted her grip on the sword, lifting it casually so the point was almost even with my boyfriend’s throat. “Here’s what’s going to happen. _I_ am going to go find that thing I need, and _you two_ are going to be as silent as…I don’t know, anything that doesn’t want to be killed. If not, _he_ is going to make sure you die very quickly, most likely in a pretty little puddle of your own blood.”

She gestured to the other person in the shadows, who, from the very little I could see of him, seemed to be her timeline’s version of Aiden. The handle of the sword was handed to him in a deft, almost careless movement, and Essa just as quickly turned away and briskly headed off towards the treasure hall. At least, that’s where I _assume_ she was going. I don’t know for sure.

The scarred man in the shadows stepped nearer to us, still holding up the sword. He, too, still had the bandana over his mouth, but I knew who he was. He barely glanced at Aiden at all, his pale green eyes focusing on me instead.

“You’ll pretend like you never saw us. We know that, logically, you’re going to run back and tell your Prime as soon as we’re gone, but it’ll be better for you if you retain your silence.” he murmured in his horribly familiar voice.

My Aiden tilted his head slightly, a challenging look entering his eyes. “What if we tell him now?”

The darker, more twisted version of him standing in front of us raised the sword tip slightly. “Don’t.”

I reached over and gently touched my boyfriend’s hand, keeping my voice just barely above a whisper. “What happened? How did you know they were here?”

He looked over at me, still with panic evident on his face. “I didn’t. I heard something weird down here, something I’d never heard before. Like…if you could hear a flash, or something like that. I came to investigate, and…these two appeared out of the darkness and told me to keep my mouth shut if I wanted to make it to morning.”

His description of the noise matched what I remembered hearing when someone came through a gate, which made sense. This didn’t explain _why_ they were here, though. What in the Overworld could Essa want that wasn’t in her own treasure hall?

Aiden’s gaze darted from mine, to the dark hall that Essa had disappeared into, to the other Aiden still brandishing the sword, back to me again. “We can’t let them do this.” he said in an undertone, narrowing his eyes again.

There was nothing we could do, though, in that tense, horrible moment in the dead of night. The whole situation was so strange and terrifying that it didn’t seem real: me, standing between these two impossibly different versions of Aiden. One, who’d repented for his past and reformed his life into something infinitely better, and the other, who’d let his past carry him down a far worse path than the one he’d already been on.

My Aiden’s green eyes were still narrowed, and I knew that he was planning something. I touched his hand again, trying to silently convince him not to act, not to do anything that might end with a sword through his chest. 

It was then that Essa came striding swiftly through the dark, triumphance apparent in every confident step. I could see nothing in her gloved hands, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t put her prize into her inventory. Whatever it was.

She held out her hand to the Aiden of her timeline, and he handed the sword back to her. Just as it was passing from his hand to hers, my Aiden let out a deafening shout, so contrastingly loud that it seemed to shake the very building around us.

“_JESS!_ GET DOWN HERE! INTRUDERS! ESSA’S-”

He didn’t get any further than that before the silver glint of a knife appeared in his scarred double’s hand. I couldn’t even let out a scream of my own before the blade had been thrown.

I didn’t see it sinking into his chest, but I heard the resulting ‘oof’ he let out as it struck him, and I saw the blood that began to leak out of the wound. I didn’t see when his stance grew shaky, but I saw the panic in his eyes, and heard his small, horrible gasp as the pain began to register.

Essa cursed, and loudly. The damage had already been done- I could hear two sets of footsteps racing down the stairs. Jess skidded to a stop at the bottom of the steps with a torch in his hand, his sharp brown eyes already taking in the scene. Julia was right behind him.

Jess didn’t hesitate a second. There was a flash of motion as he simultaneously switched the torch to his left hand, pulled his diamond sword from his inventory with his right, and charged at Essa.

I hardly noticed any of this, though. My mind was on Aiden, and the fact that he was hurt because of me. If I hadn’t come down, maybe they would’ve let him be. Maybe, if I hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have had the bravado to shout for Jess.

He went down, his knees giving way and allowing his body to sink to the floor. I tried to catch him, slowing his fall.

Leaning against me as I kneeled on the floor, his pale fingers scrabbled thoughtlessly at the knife embedded in his chest. No, it wasn’t quite in his chest, I realized with some relief. It was higher than that, not quite in his shoulder, but almost.

It didn’t matter too much where it was, though. It was a stab wound, and one that had the potential to make him bleed out if it wasn’t dealt with _now_.

I looked desperately up at the darkened room. Jess and Essa were in a fierce swordfight, as were Julia and the other Aiden. I needed to get a Healing potion, and fast, but I couldn’t just leave my boyfriend here.

“Lukas…” he murmured heavily, his breath catching. He was looking up in my direction, but not directly at me. I felt tears sting my eyes as I took in the blood staining his shirt, all the deadly red that shouldn’t be there. This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be happening.

He let out another gasp of pain, then tried to grab the knife handle again. I grasped his hand and kept him from touching it, knowing that the blood flow would only get worse if the weapon was removed. He curled up, still whimpering in pain.

“You’re gonna be okay…it’s gonna be fine…” I muttered, knowing that I had to do something, and fast, if my words were going to be true.

Then, as if this wasn’t bad enough, a whole new variable entered the already-chaotic scene.

Radar came shuffling down the stairs, adjusting his glasses. I didn’t know he’d stayed there that night, but things would’ve ended very differently if he hadn’t. “What…guys, what’s going on…?”

“Radar, no!” Jess exclaimed, at the same time that Essa called, “Aiden, _now_!”

Radar cried out in fear and practically threw himself to the floor as the knife came flying towards him. I couldn’t tell if he’d been hit or not, but Jess ran over to him anyways.

Meanwhile, the other Aiden kicked Julia’s feet out from under her as she tried to attack Essa. The other Prime woman was slashing her sword through the air, though my frenzied brain didn’t immediately catch on to what she was doing.

Luckily, Radar was back on his feet, apparently unscathed. “What- what’s happening?” he stammered, looking wide-eyed at me and Aiden.

“I need a Healing Potion!” I exclaimed as Jess recollected his sword and moved towards Essa again. Radar didn’t hesitate a second, bolting off towards the storage room.

Things weren’t looking good. I still couldn’t tell what Essa was doing, but the other Aiden was fending both Julia and Jess away from her. Julia seemed unwilling to put her full weight on one foot, and wasn’t fighting as well as earlier.

I glanced back down at my Aiden, and my breath caught as I took in his pale face and shallow breaths. I gently smoothed a lock of hair away from his forehead, silently willing Radar to hurry.

A bright flash of white light lit up my vision, and I shut my eyes against it. Right at that moment, as though he’d heard my thoughts, Radar dropped to the floor beside me, pushing a pink bottle into my hand.

“You’re gonna have to pull the knife out.” I told him, uncorking the potion. His brows furrowed nervously, but he gently gripped the handle protruding from Aiden’s chest.

It was out with one swift tug, and Aiden let out a heart-wrenching cry of agony. I quickly drizzled the pink potion into the wound, which was already bleeding worse. His shout dwindled to a pained whimper as the horrible tear in his flesh gradually started to close. 

I took a deep breath as I applied more of the potion, watching the tension slowly leave his body as the wound healed. _It was okay. He was going to be okay. _

His green eyes fluttered shut again, and I gingerly checked his pulse, confirming my assumption that he’d passed out. His shirt was torn where the knife had gone in, but the skin visible through the tear was whole, if scarred. He was okay.

It was then that my sense finally caught up with the rest of me. I lifted my head, looking around the now-empty room. “What…what happened?”

Radar was biting furiously at his lower lip. I wanted to tell him to stop it, that it was going to start bleeding if he kept that up, but instead, I repeated, “What happened? Where are they?”

He exhaled. “Hooo. Okay. So, ahh…Essa made a gate. And she and her Aiden went through.” 

I shut my eyes. “Don’t tell me. Jess and Julia followed her.”

“…Yeah. And wherever they went, it…it wasn’t just back to the In-Between. I don’t think.” He added, reaching up to rub his eyes.

“What?”

“They…I don’t think they went to the In-Between.” Radar repeated. “The symbol Essa made; it wasn’t the normal exit code for this timeline. It was something else.”

I pressed my fingers against my temples. “So they not only just disappeared into thin air, but we have no idea where they went and no way to find out.”

“Yeah.” He agreed in a simple, rather morose tone.

I glanced down at Aiden’s closed eyes, then looked around mindlessly at the dim room. I couldn’t believe how quickly everything had been dashed to pieces. I let out a slow breath, trying to keep my voice steady.

“Well. This certainly makes things a whole lot more complicated.” 


	22. This Side of Nowhere

I landed on my feet on the other side of the gate, still with my diamond sword in my hand. I hadn’t even given it a second’s thought, just leaped into the white abyss behind Essa and her Aiden.

To my surprise, the battle didn’t immediately continue in this new timeline. It was suddenly day, the sun peeking hesitantly through high clouds, with the two villains nowhere to be seen.

I straightened my stance, looking confusedly around as Julia appeared beside me. We were in a birch forest, the kind with the impossibly tall trees that seem like they could rival even a jungle. A light breeze stirred the high-up leaves, but no other sounds could be heard.

We were alone.

“What…what the hell?! Where are they?” I exclaimed, turning in a full circle. “I was _right_ behind him! How…?”

Julia shook her head, looking just as lost as I was. “I have no idea. Maybe…Essa manipulated the gate somehow? So we’d end up far away from her?”

I reached up, running a hand through my hair in bewilderment. “I guess? And where the hell even are we?”

“I don’t know. This biome is a little too generic to recognize.” Julia said. “And we won’t be able to figure out which timeline we’re even in until we get somewhere we’re familiar with.”

I sighed. “Dammit. This is bad. I hope the others are okay. Especially Aiden, he didn’t look too good.”

“What even happened back there?” Julia asked. “One minute I was asleep, then I heard Aiden yelling, and _bam_, there was Essa. What were they _doing_ there?”

“No way to know until we get back.” I replied resignedly.

I scanned the area again. We were up on a slight hill, which helped me get a decent look at where we were. There were no immediate landmarks, until I turned my gaze west and saw a thin column of smoke wafting up from fairly nearby.

Shielding my eyes with one hand, I studied the smoke. It didn’t look like it was from a forest fire, but rather, something more controlled, which could only mean there were other people nearby.

I pointed this out to Julia, suggesting we head towards it. We had only taken a few steps, though, when a new problem arose.

Julia hissed under her breath and went down, crouching on one knee and grabbing her ankle. “Ah, shit.”

“What?” I asked, pausing beside her.

She looked up at me with pain twisting her features. “I think I got hurt during the fight. That jerk knocked my feet out from under me, and I think he either kicked me harder than I thought, or I landed weird. Or both.”

“Are you…okay to walk? At least to whatever that is?” I asked worriedly, indicating the smoke. She glared down at her ankle.

“Probably. It hurts, but I’ve been through worse.”

We started towards where I’d seen the smoke, walking fairly slowly to prevent Julia exerting herself too much. The birch-covered hills soon gave way to a classic plains biome, dotted here and there with oak trees. And not far away from us stood the beginnings of a little town.

The trail of smoke was rising up from the chimney of one of the nearest buildings, which appeared to be a blacksmith’s shop. As we drew closer, I could see that the town was a _very_ small one- only a dozen or so buildings, all made of oak or birch wood and embellished with stone. An iron golem lumbered past the fountain in the center of the town, its heavy feet making loud thuds as it walked.

I didn’t recognize the place, nor any of the people strolling about the stone-brick paths. We needed to figure out where we were, though I was slightly unsettled by the idea of just asking someone. We’d have to be careful with our words, since we didn’t know what timeline we were in.

We had just passed the blacksmith’s when an unfamiliar voice called out to us. “Hey, hello!”

I turned towards the voice, to see a woman standing on the steps of the stone building we’d just passed, waving to us. She was wearing dark goggles over her eyes, and had long, very dark red hair that faded to a pale orange at the tips.

“Uh…hi.” Julia tried as we went back towards her.

She grinned, then lifted the goggles to reveal friendly brown eyes. “Sorry if I startled you. Haven’t seen travelers through here in a while!”

I relaxed slightly. “Can’t say I’m surprised. This is a pretty small place.”

She laughed. “Yeah, that’s for sure. I’m Ingrid, and you are?” she asked, offering her hand to me.

“I’m Jess, this is Julia.” I replied, shaking her hand. “Could you, ah…have you ever heard of a place called Beacontown?” I asked cautiously. She seemed friendly enough, and I hoped she’d be willing to help us.

Ingrid adjusted the goggles on her head, frowning slightly. “Hmm…can’t say I have. Though that doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t exist, I haven’t travelled much.”

“Shoot.” Julia muttered, then seemed to think of something else. “Well, then, do you know if there’s a town near the Arian mountains? The uh, east side, I believe?”

Again, Ingrid took a moment to contemplate this. “Ah! Yeah, that’d be Dreiton. Pretty far from here, but it’s there. You guys headed there?”

“Yeah, that’s the goal.” I said.

She nodded, then pointed towards the horizon in the opposite way we’d come. “It’s a little more than a day that way. You’re on the right track, but it’s quite a journey.”

“Thanks. And, ah…this might be a dumb question but…what’s this town called? We’ve been travelling awhile; I’ve started losing track of where we’ve been.” Julia hedged uncertainly.

Luckily, Ingrid seemed to buy it, and laughed good-naturedly. “This is Taswell, though I doubt it’d be on many maps. You already noticed what a small place it is.”

“Taswell. Huh.” I muttered. A strange feeling of familiarity jolted through me, though I didn’t immediately figure out what it meant.

Ingrid snapped her fingers, though the effect was slightly lessened by the gloves she wore. “Oh, I almost forgot. I noticed you were limping on your way over here; do you want a Potion of Healing? My work tends to get me burnt quite a bit, so I have extras.” she said to Julia, who smiled relievedly.

“Yeah, that’d be great. We had to ah, fight off some monsters earlier, and…yeah. If it’s not too much bother.”

The redhead waved her hand dismissively and disappeared into her shop. I leaned close to Julia, murmuring, “Taswell? _Dreiton? _Where in the Overworld are we?”

Julia shook her head again. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of either of those…though it sounds like this ‘Dreiton’ is near where Beacontown should be. How many towns _are_ there on the east side of the Arian mountains?”

“Only one, as far as I know.” I replied. “Something’s weird here.”

“Well, at least we know where to go now.” Julia sighed as Ingrid reappeared. She had a pink potion bottle in one hand, and a colourful map in the other.

“Here you go. I figured you might want a map, too, to get a reference on where you are. There’s a lotta open space between here and anything else, and it can be easy to get turned around.”

Julia gratefully swallowed the potion, and I noticed her stance shift as her ankle healed. She smiled appreciatively at Ingrid. “Thanks again for your help.”

Ingrid grinned again as well. “Happy to be of assistance. Not much happens here, and I love meeting new people. Good luck on your trip.” 

We walked off, heading quickly through the rest of the town. Nobody else paid us much attention, though I noticed we _did_ get a few curious glances. I studied the map as we walked, frowning as I tried to make sense of it.

This was unmistakably the same geography as my own world, but it was so…different, at the same time. Taswell wasn’t the only little town I found on the map that I was _sure_ didn’t exist back home.

We’d just left the town behind when Julia commented, “So, that was weird.”

“A little, yeah.” I agreed.

“I mean, at least she was nice, and now we know where we are, but that was still pretty strange, right? Like…how could she not have at least heard of Beacontown? And what’s this _Dreiton_?”

I shook my head, tucking the map into my inventory. “I don’t know.”

Julia didn’t seem to hear. “Ugh, what did we get ourselves into? I swear, there’s something weird about this timeline. I just have a gut feeling about it. Something’s not right here.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty strange.” I said, not fully processing her words. Something was flickering at the back of my mind, a memory trying to match up. “Listen, I…I think I might actually know something about Taswell, after all.”

She raised her eyebrows, giving me a curious look. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. It…I’m not sure if I’m remembering right, since I was only there once, when I was a fairly new spawn. But if memory serves…” I inhaled deeply. “Taswell was destroyed in the Witherstorm, and it wasn’t rebuilt.”

Julia’s look of surprise intensified. “Really. Huh. Maybe it…_was_ rebuilt in this timeline?” she tried, though she didn’t quite seem to believe her own words. 

I shrugged. “Or…this timeline might be in the past. Like, _way_ in the past. Let’s face it; we don’t know _anything_ about this timeline. I doubt Essa would’ve dropped us into a dimension we’re already familiar with, so I think it’s safe to say this place is going to be unpredictable.”

“You think it might be one of those _other_ timelines we saw in the In-Between? The higher ones that Radar and Lukas couldn’t see?” she asked.

“Maybe. It’s just a hunch for now, but you never know. I have a bad feeling about this one too, just like you said.” 

She sighed. “Well, without knowing the exit code, the best we can do is hope there’s answers in Beacontown.”

\------

We travelled for the rest of the day, which was honestly only about three hours.

The time differences between realities was insanely jarring, made even more so by the fact that I’d been sound asleep only minutes before jumping into this timeline, where it was already afternoon. I wasn’t sorry to see the sun going down, eager to catch up on the rest I’d missed the night before.

Ever since this had started, I’d only gotten _half_ a night’s sleep in my own bed. It was beginning to make me understand Radar’s aversion to adventures a bit more.

When the sun hit the horizon, Julia Admin-ed another small house for us to spend the night in. It was a modest oak-wood thing, the exact type of structure I would’ve built if I’d been out here on my own.

It was relieving to see that her Julia-ness outweighed her Admin-ness, even when she was using her powers. I admittedly still wasn’t totally _used_ to such an apparently-normal person having those unworldly abilities, but she didn’t show off or use them excessively, and they were proving to be handy.

I knew it was easier for her, too, that we knew. She didn’t have to worry about trying to keep the secret, or the headaches she described that came with suppressing the powers.

Julia had made the roof of the little building out of glass, allowing me to stare up at the stars as we tried to go to sleep. Although I was still tired from the fight and the lack of rest the previous night, and the bed was comfy and warm, I still wasn’t able to drift off. There was too much on my mind. I lay on my back with my arms behind my head as my thoughts drifted down into an unsortable pile, my tired brain flitting between worrying topics and unanswerable questions.

“Julia?” I asked quietly, testing if she was still awake. It hadn’t been long since we’d gone to bed, but I’d already seen once that she had the ability to fall asleep _very_ quickly.

“Mmf. Yeah?”

“…Do you ever think about the future?” I asked after a moment.

Across the small room, I heard her bedding rustle as she rolled onto her side to look at me. “Uh…that depends. What kind of ‘the future’? My future? The future of the world?”

“Yours.”

She paused. “Immediate or distant?”

“Both, I guess. Or neither?”

“Jess, are you actually awake? Are you just philosophically sleep-talking at me?” she asked. I could tell from her tone that she was kidding.

I sighed, mildly frustrated at my own lack of lucidity when speaking. “I mean…do you have any future goals? Do you see yourself doing anything else big in your life, or is this it? Are you going to continue upwards and forwards, or just stay where you are?”

She was silent for a few moments, though I wasn’t sure if she was thinking of an answer or trying to assess my sanity. Finally, she said, “I’m not sure. I _have_ thought about that, but not really…decided anything? Like, I know that yes, I _am_ going to continue. Where I am right now is not where I’ll be forever. I love my Beacontown, and I love being a leader, but I know there’ll be more someday. I’m still young. We’re _both _still young.”

When I didn’t reply right away, she continued. “I’m going to make my Beacontown a place for heroes. People like Jack, who have already been through the mill, and people like Radar, who are still looking for what life has to offer them. It’s going to be a place where everyone’s safe, where no matter who you are or what you’ve been through, there’s a spot for you. I’m not sure if I’m going to be the leader of that future Beacontown, but that’s what I’m gonna make of it. Also, I’m probably going to marry my girlfriend someday, though it’s okay if that’s not for a while.” 

I stayed silent for another few moments, contemplating this. There was something in her voice when she talked about the future that made it seem almost like it wasn’t some fragile possibility, but something that was already set in stone.

“Why?” she asked. “What’s still in store for you?”

I took in a deep breath. “I don’t know.”

“Jess.”

I glanced over at her, moving only my head. It was dark, but I could see that she was laying on her side, propped up on one elbow and giving me an unconvinced half-glare. “You would _not_ have asked me that if you didn’t know.”

I returned to looking skyward. My throat felt strangely thick as I said, “But I don’t. I have no idea what’s going to come next, if anything is at all. I just…every time I think about ‘the future’, and what else I might do, all I can see is a blank void. I just don’t know what else to do.”

I briefly glanced at her again. “I asked, because I’m feeling stuck, and I wanted to know if this was just part of our lives, or something exclusive to me.”

She watched me with serious brown eyes, waiting for me to say more. My voice was quiet and heavy as I continued.

“I don’t know who I am without my friends. I’m with you in that I love leading Beacontown. It’s my home, and my responsibility, and I welcome that. But…” I paused for breath again, and to attempt to sort out my thoughts. “I don’t know where to go from there. I don’t know who I can be, only who I was. And I’m…I’m not even sure if I am that person anymore.

“Julia, somewhere along the line, I gave up on the idea of my future. I don’t know when. It wasn’t a conscious decision…it was just how things happened. I stopped looking ahead, I stopped reaching forward, and I stopped trying to be more. I know where I am now, but I don’t know what’s beyond that, if there _is_ anything beyond that. And I don’t know _how_ to know.”

We were both quiet for a minute or so after that outpouring of words. I could feel Julia’s eyes on me, though I didn’t look back at her.

Her sigh echoed mine. “Jess, I…I think I understand what you mean, though I can’t say I’ve felt like that. I…hell, I don’t know what to say.”

“Sorry.” I muttered. “I shouldn’t have dumped that on you.”

“No, it’s okay! Look, if you can’t talk to _yourself from another dimension_, who can you talk to? I’m completely chill with being vented at. I just…don’t really know how to react to that. I’m sorry, I guess.”

Again, it took a few moments before either of us spoke again.

“I think that’s part of the problem, actually. I feel…all this dark crap, and I don’t know who to turn to. Olivia’s not around, and she’s the one I always used to vent to. Lukas has his own life stuff to deal with, and I’ve already dumped other baggage on him. I’m not about to start scaring Radar with this, and there’s…there’s no one else.”

I exhaled slowly. “If there’s one thing I can’t handle- and I mean really _cannot handle_ -it’s being alone. Even if I’m not really on my own, I can still feel isolated, and I just…I hate it. I can’t deal with it. But I have to, and it’s just…it’s hard, is all.” 

Julia let out a small, bitter laugh. “Me too. God, Jess, _infinite_ me too. It’s not really a physical aloneness as an emotional one, and you’re right, it _is_ hard. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with.”

“So how _did_ you deal with it?” I asked, finally looking at her again. There was only one dim torch in the little structure, casting strange shadows over her tan-skinned face. “How are you still going strong and looking ahead, while I’m falling deeper into my own brain?”

Julia retained eye contact for a moment more before her gaze flicked away. “I don’t really know. I guess I just kept thinking… that I didn’t come this far to only come this far. You know?”

“No. No, I don’t.” I said shortly.

She gave me an odd little half smile. “We’ve both been through a lot. We’ve both lost things, and gained things, and been changed by our world just as much as we changed it. But in my mind, every problem, every change, every loss…it’s just another step up. It’s just another addition to the path that’s never going to stop growing and changing and becoming better. I guess I just never let myself dwell on things long enough for them to drag me down. I don’t know if that helps or not, but…that’s about the best you’re going to get from me right now.” she said with another small laugh.

I smiled as well, but it turned into a yawn. The conversation had helped, a little bit. I’d been reminded that just because this was how I felt now, didn’t mean it had to be that way forever.

“Now, are you going to make me continue discussing life crises, or can I go to sleep?” Julia asked jokingly.

“Go to sleep.” I told her. “I shouldn’t have kept you up; I feel like we’re gonna have a big day tomorrow.”

She made a noncommittal huff noise, turning back onto her opposite side. “Yeah, I think that’s a pretty normal thing to be feeling in this scenario.”

Julia went silent after that, dropping quickly into the deep realm of sleep. It took me several minutes of listening to her even breaths, though, before I finally drifted off.

I didn’t remember the details of my dreams that night, though I know I wasn’t any less isolated in my sleep as I was in the waking world.


	23. Uncharted Regions

Julia and I were both awake bright and early the next morning, and ready to leave only a few minutes after getting up. I felt sufficiently rested, which was a relief after the last few tumultuous days.

Our trek continued for several hours, drawing nearer and nearer to this dimension’s version of Beacontown. Or Dreiton, as it was apparently called here.

I was more than a little worried about what we would find there. Were we in the past? The future? What would the Prime be like? Would the Prime even be there?

Julia was uncharacteristically quiet as we hiked, giving me the idea she was thinking similar things. We chatted idly now and then, but not consistently.

I wondered what was going on back at home. I was sure Radar would be worried out of his mind, and I knew Lukas was going to give me hell for acting so impulsively again.

I hoped Aiden was alright. I didn’t know what Essa or her sidekick had done to him, but from the brief look I’d gotten at his injury, it hadn’t been pretty. I hoped Radar had gotten him a Healing Potion in time.

We passed by a few other towns like Taswell during our journey. We didn’t go through them, just nearby, but we could see they were all just little settlements. This struck me as being very strange, since I was certain none of them existed in my world.

When I asked Julia what she thought about it, all I got in reply was an uncomfortable shrug. Either she didn’t have a clue, or her theories were alarming enough that she didn’t want to say them aloud.

I couldn’t think of a reason why these little towns would be in this timeline but not in my own. What could possibly be so different?

Finally, around midday, I got the beginnings of an answer.

I checked the map again, confirming that yes, this was indeed the town we were looking for. The familiar silhouette of the mountains loomed behind it, further cinching it.

But this place didn’t seem anything like Beacontown. Not even close.

There was no protective wall, for one. No wall, no colourful gate. And no floating tower, so we weren’t in some convoluted future.

There were no hot-air balloons, no jungle-tree-supported bridge that hung over the main street. There were no extravagant builds, layered with dyed wool or glazed terracotta for no reason other than aesthetic effect. There were no multicoloured beacons shining up to the sky. There was no glass, quartz, and gold Order Hall.

There was nothing that made this place stand out in the slightest. 

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This was where Beacontown was supposed to be, I was sure of it.

But this was _not_ Beacontown.

Cautiously, hesitantly, Julia and I made our way into the strange town. It was all so…plain. It reminded me of what the place had looked like a few months after the Witherstorm, but even _more_ unadorned.

Most of the houses were fairly small and uninspired, made primarily of different kinds of stone. Businesses looked very similar, though they at least usually had stained-glass windows and other small attempts to stand out. The streets were of polished andesite, lined with the most basic lamps you could imagine. Just carved stone brick and torches- not even _glowstone_, for gods’ sake. 

The town was, at least, quite a bit larger than the smaller hamlets we’d passed by earlier. But it was nothing- absolutely _nothing_ -like the Beacontown I knew and loved, not like it was now or had ever been.

Julia and I were both silent, trying to keep the horror out of our faces as we surveyed the town. This didn’t feel real.

We wandered, completely bewildered, until we found a small stretch of grass with a few trees, apparently intended to be a park or something. Julia leaned back against the dark-oak tree, still staring around at the town.

“What the hell _is_ this place?” she whispered, folding her arms against her chest.

I just shook my head. I had nothing that even began to resemble an answer.

People paid us no mind as they roamed the streets. In my Beacontown, everyone seemed content and happy to be there. Here, most people I saw seemed vaguely dissatisfied, walking along with eyes cast down. Of course, not everyone seemed inherently upset, just…different.

“Seriously, what in the Overworld is this timeline? It can’t be in the future, and I doubt it’s in the past. As far as I know, there was never a different town directly where Beacontown is now. There was one _near_ it, that was destroyed in the Witherstorm…but this isn’t it. I don’t know _what’s_ going on.” Julia said.

“Me neither. This is too weird for words.” I replied.

She reached up and tugged on the bit of braided hair in front of her ear. “Well, we’ve got to figure it out if we’re going to get out of here. This can’t be the newest timeline, right? The one that stems from Jacek’s?”

From the way she said it, I could tell she didn’t believe her own suggestion. I glanced around again as I said, “No, it can’t. As far as I know, this isn’t any time in our past. Plus, we don’t even know if it’s possible to travel to that one.”

Sighing aggrievedly, Julia repeated, “Then what the hell _is_ this?! This place is _not_ Beacontown! There’s literally no explanation!”

“Not to mention…have you noticed how strange the people are?” I asked.

She cast her eyes around again. “They don’t seem strange to me. Just…I dunno, kinda vaguely hopeless.”

_Hopeless_. That was it. That was another thing about my hometown- there wasn’t much room for despondency. It was a lively, beautiful place, full of possibilities. If I was being honest, I think that was at least partially because it had for so long been the home of the Order. There was something about living in the same town as legendary heroes that seemed to inspire people.

An uneasy feeling trickled down my spine, making me shudder ever so slightly. Was that what this place was missing? Heroes?

Maybe we were in the past, after all. Very, _very_ far in the past, but the past nonetheless. 

Julia suddenly stiffened, her arms falling to her sides and her brown eyes going wide. She tilted her head to the side slightly, looking at something beyond me.

“Jess…” she said slowly. “I want you to look behind you, as casually as you can, and tell me what you see. I think I’m going crazy.”

I was slightly tempted to remark that she was already crazy, but I did as she asked. Tucking my hands into my pockets, I glanced easily over my shoulder.

Across the street from us was a row of businesses. People were standing in front of or going in and out of some of them, preventing me from seeing what they were. “What am I looking at?” I asked.

“In front of that wooden building that looks like a map shop. There’s a blond-ish guy talking to two women. Do you see them?”

It took me a moment to figure out who she was talking about, but I found them. The man was decently tall, with golden-brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. My eyes widened of their own accord as I realized who it was.

“That’s…is that _Jack_?” I asked. Julia’s expression was frozen somewhere between confusion and alarm.

“Keep looking.”

I glanced back over at the trio, trying to identify either of the strange women. They were both standing with their backs to me, so it was hard to tell. They both seemed fairly young, around my age if I had to guess.

One of them was a tall redhead, with a long braid that spilled over her shoulder. She wore a simple green shirt and grey pants, though I didn’t catch any other details that jumped out at me.   
The other was a bit shorter and wearing a patterned red skirt. She had rich umber skin, and very long black hair that rippled down her back in shiny curls. Though I was too far away to hear what she was saying, I noticed her motioning with her hands as she spoke.

I was about to look back at Julia again when a child’s voice caught my attention. Both the women turned to smile at a little boy as he came running up to them, and I swear my heart stopped for a second when I saw their faces.

Because they weren’t strangers. Far from it.

It was _Olivia and Petra_.

I stared in astonishment for a moment, then turned back to Julia. “How…what…_what?!”_

She shook her head, apparently just as surprised as I was. “I don’t know. This somehow makes even less sense than before.”

“But-but they…but if this is…what the _hell_?” I stammered, turning back to look at them again. Petra had lifted the little boy into her arms and was grinning as Olivia said something to him.

The boy was obviously a young spawn. He had wavy dark brown hair that contrasted starkly with his pale skin, and his roundish face was dotted with freckles. The grey hoodie he wore seemed ever so slightly too small for him, the sleeves rolling all the way up to his elbows as he made wild gestures to match his exuberant words I couldn’t hear.

That was when I noticed the sunlight glinting off something on Petra’s right hand.

A ring. A _wedding_ ring.

My eyes darted between her, to Olivia, to the boy, back to Petra again. I finally noticed the way the two women were looking at each other, as the boy prattled on.

They were married? And not only that, but they’d adopted a son?

I met Julia’s eyes again, her look of shock mirroring mine.

“I know there’s really no point in saying it again, because we’re both thinking it,” she said. “but what the _actual_ hell.”

“I don’t know. This obviously completely throws out our past idea.” I muttered.

“But then what is it?!” she objected. “If it’s not sometime in the past, and it’s not the future…what else does that leave us with?”

I hesitated, rubbing my thumb against the stubble on my chin as I thought. “Maybe…maybe this doesn’t match up with our timeline at _all_. For all we know, we could be somewhere completely outside our known realities.”

The expression of shock gave way to one of alarm, and I continued before Julia had a chance to say anything. “Think about it. This is basically the perfect place for Essa to trap us, if she wants us out of the way of her plans. And if you’re going to drop someone into a confusing dimension that you don’t want them to get out of, why not go the whole hog?”

I paused for a second, glancing back at the couple again, then to the west where the Order Hall should’ve been. “Julia…I think we might be in a world without heroes.”

She gave me a wary look. “What exactly does that mean?”

I gestured to the plain town surrounding us. “Look around. This is the present. Olivia and Petra are the same age they are in my time, but they’re not ‘Petra the Warrior’ and ‘Olivia the Redstone Engineer’. They’re just people. And…and the Order Hall is gone. There’s no beacon amulet, or anything that shows any signs of the Order of the Stone. It means exactly what it sounds like- there aren’t any heroes in this world.”

“What if it’s not just that there’s no heroes?” Julia asked. Her voice had dropped almost to a whisper, and she sounded downright horrified. “What if there’s just no _Prime_?” 

I stared. She grabbed at my hand, looking somewhat faint. “Jess, that’s it, I know that’s it. There’s no _us_. There’s no Order in this timeline because here, _we don’t exist_.” Julia said, gesturing between her and I. “That’s…that’s why this isn’t Beacontown. There was no Prime, no you or I or Jacek or Jo to make it into what it’s supposed to be. We. Don’t. Exist.”

My other hand flew up to cover my gasp as my thoughts started spiraling through possibilities as puzzle pieces clicked in my mind. “Oh…my god. Oh my _god_. You’re right. That’s why Taswell is still there, too. There was no Witherstorm…no _anything_.” 

She released my wrist to run her own fingers through her short brown hair. “Of course. Without the Prime, Axel and Olivia and Lukas may not have found out about Petra’s deal. They wouldn’t have found the Wither…wouldn’t have confronted Ivor…Axel wouldn’t have stolen the potion…_nothing would’ve happened_. I-Ivor’s original plan would’ve worked, and he would’ve exposed the Order…but there wouldn’t have been us, the New Order, to take their place.” 

“So people stopped believing in heroes at all.” I added. “And that’s why everything here feels so different, so _hopeless_.”

Julia shook her head, though she seemed to be reacting more to the disbelief than to my statement. She slumped back against the tree again, and I whispered, “Julia…what did we get ourselves into?” 

“Even more than that. How do we get ourselves _out_?” she added. “Without the Prime, there’s no one else who would know about the timelines, at least no one we could talk to. If we can’t find out the exit code…we’re stuck here.”

“Which was no doubt Essa’s intention.” I muttered bitterly. Her plan must be _very_ fragile for her to go to such lengths to keep us out of the way.

Julia pressed her hands against her face, hiding her eyes. “Okay. Let’s think about this. I’m not jumping into _complete_ hopelessness yet. We can think this through.”

I crossed my arms lightly. “There’s gotta be some way to get out of here. Even if there’s no Prime, _someone_ could’ve found out about the timelines, right? What about Ivor?” I asked. My tone and words were far more optimistic than I was really feeling.

“No…he wouldn’t know. I still don’t know how he found out, but it was after he’d left Beacontown to try to find the rest of the old Order. And he wouldn’t have done that if me and the rest of the New Order hadn’t separated after the Admin. So…no, he doesn’t have any of the motivation.” Julia argued.

She made an exampling motion with her hand, gesturing to the town around us. “And besides, we don’t know what happened to him in this timeline. He could be anywhere. So even if he did know, we wouldn’t be able to find him.”

“And we don’t exactly have time for a long search.” I said with a frustrated sigh.

We were both silent for a few moments, thinking. I briefly wondered about the auburn-haired woman from Essa’s timeline- Giselle. I still didn’t know her connection to the whole mess. Was it possible that this timeline’s version of her would know?

But…again, even if she did, we had no way to find her. And I doubted she was the most trustworthy source of information, in any case.

Julia was gnawing on her thumbnail, frowning at the ground with a contemplative expression. “What if…this might be totally crazy, but what if _Soren _knows?”

“Soren?” I echoed.

She nodded thoughtfully. “I was just thinking back to that creepy room back in the old Order’s temple. We never figured out who was doing all that research, but it seemed like him, right? And he’s already weird enough that knowing about the timelines wouldn’t be too far off track.”

“But how do we find him?” I asked. “We still have no idea how everything played out when the Order was exposed in this timeline. Where would he have gone?”

“Who says he went anywhere? If Ivor revealed the Order’s lies on his own, there would’ve been no reason for Soren to leave his End fortress. I bet he’s still there, with all his Endermen and insanity!”

I hesitated just a moment too long, and Julia gave me a questioning look. “Okay, yeah. He probably _is_ still there…but are we sure we want to go all the way there? If he _doesn’t_ actually know about the timelines, we’re screwed. I’m just wondering if we have enough proof. It would really suck if we got all the way there and then he can’t help us.”

Julia made a dismissive noise, waving her hand flippantly. “We don’t have any other leads. Plus, I just have this feeling it’s him, and my instincts haven’t been wrong yet.” 

I sighed. “True.”

“Great. So let’s go.” Julia prompted. She seemed a bit cheerier now that we had a plan, or the beginnings of one, at least. 

I took another long look at the town as we headed out, memorizing the plain people and uninspired buildings. It made me sad, and a little frightened, to see how different it was from my hometown. All because it didn’t have someone like me or Julia? That thought was more than a little intimidating. Had I _really_ changed things that much?

Part of me wished we could stay a little longer in this twisted place. Find out who led it. How people like Jack still managed to have come here. Anything.

But we had a goal now, and another part of me wanted to get as far away from the strange town as possible.

\---

The journey to Soren’s fortress didn’t take as long as I would’ve thought.

It gave me major chills to be walking through areas of wilderness that I knew had been destroyed in the Witherstorm and grown back completely differently. The storm had changed our world so much, for the worse, but for the better as well. While the Witherstorm itself had been horrible, the changes that had sprung up in its wake had been surprisingly positive.

I wondered what else had changed, or, rather, _not_ changed.

Julia and I ended up discussing this for a while during our journey, trying to piece together how everything had gone down without us. Without the Prime, no one else would have found out about Petra’s deal with Ivor. Even if she’d gone down to his creepy hideout to look for the skull on her own, she may not have found the hidden lever, without Axel there to steal the potion that revealed it. Alternatively, maybe she _had_ found the skull, and taken it.

Either way, that was where the story ended for us. We didn’t know how exactly Ivor had revealed the rest of the Order, or what had happened after. It was obvious that the people who should’ve become the New Order hadn’t stayed friends, at least not most of them. Without the Prime, they’d have had no motivation to.

This also presented a new question that neither of us knew how to answer, and maybe didn’t even want to. How had this timeline even come into being? How could something like this even exist?

Julia commented that it seemed almost like a ‘control’ sample in a science experiment, which deeply unnerved us both. I didn’t like the idea that my entire existence had the potential to be nothing more than a part of some bizarre multidimensional test.

“It kinda really puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?” Julia asked. The entrance to Soren’s mountain fortress had just come into view in the distance, refueling our motivation.

“What do you mean?”

“Well…it just kinda reminds you why we’re here. This is why us being heroes is so important. The world needs people like us to show what’s possible, to test the limits of reality and provide hope. Otherwise things never change.”

I decided not to tell her how bigheaded that sounded, because she _did_ have a point. Even if saying it aloud made it seem a little arrogant, I knew it was true. We _did_ test the limits of reality, and we kept people guessing as to what could be done. We helped keep things moving forward.

Maybe that’s why I had given up on my future. Because I’d forgotten how important it was to have _heroes_ in our world, and how much better my own life had been when I was still out there changing the world.

I was beginning to feel as though I’d made a mistake.

Staying in Beacontown hadn’t been an impulsive choice. I’d had a feeling Petra was going to leave town ever since that awkward conversation on the way to the ‘icy palace of despair’, and I’d known right from the start that I wasn’t going with her. But now I was wondering if that had really been the right decision. 

But what was the other alternative? I’ve already made my choice, and I was stuck in it. With the Order scattered, it was already too late to go back to the way things could’ve been.

I didn’t say any of this to Julia, since she seemed to be in such high spirits as we climbed the uneven rocks that led up to the entrance to the fortress. The blue and gold doors opened automatically in front of us, and a shiver ran down my spine as memories from being here seven years prior came flooding back.

Julia seemed to be thinking the same thing as we gazed out over the high pillars we needed to parkour across. She was motionless, and seemed to be contemplating something.

I took a few steps back, then leapt onto the first pillar, then the next. They really weren’t that far apart, but the gravel lining the tops of the columns made it a little difficult to land securely.

When I was almost halfway across, I finally glanced back at Julia. To my surprise, she wasn’t bothering to jump from pillar to pillar like I was- she was simply using her Admin powers to fly over the gap.

“Cheater!” I exclaimed as she caught up to me. “You could’ve done that for me, too!”

She gave me a slightly condescending smile. “Maybe if you’d waited for me, I would’ve.”

With that, she took off again, and I followed, trying to keep up while still retaining my balance.

Before long, we found ourselves in the impossibly tall room that housed the four enormous statues of the Order members. I briefly wondered why there was only four- had they been built after Ivor had already left, or had Soren destroyed his?

Julia was already heading towards the passageway beside Ellegaard’s statue. “We’re gonna have to go all the way through the grinder to get to that End portal, right? It’s been so long since I’ve been here…I can’t fully remember.”

I nodded. “Yeah. This passageway takes us to the library, and below there is the tunnels that feed into the grinder.”

More and more worries started bubbling up as we walked cautiously through the passage. What if Soren didn’t know about the timelines? What if he couldn’t help? What if he wasn’t even here? For all we knew, he could be _dead_ in this timeline!

Eventually, the tunnel gave way to a set of downward stairs, which led into the massive library. It was exactly how I remembered it- the nearly endless towers of bookshelves, all lit by the golden light of glowstone lamps. The room was impossibly tall, reaching up to what had to be at least fifty blocks, maybe even as much as a hundred.

Standing near the center of the room, I glanced around, trying to remember where the hidden room had been. I heard a faint noise that sounded like muttering, but I brushed it off, thinking that it was just Julia.

My guess was proved wrong when Julia suddenly grabbed my arm, looking wildly around. “There’s someone here.” she murmured.

“What? Who?” I whispered back. She shook her head.

“I don’t know. Should we confront them?”

I hesitated. If it was someone else who wasn’t supposed to be there, we probably should. But if it was Soren, we should try to be polite, since _we _fell into the category of ‘not supposed to be there’.

I waited too long, though, because Julia shouted, “HEY! Who’s there?!” before I had a chance to say anything.

I heard the sound of a heavy book hitting the floor, and a male voice called out in surprise. Julia took off running towards the shout, with me trailing nervously behind.

A man was standing near one of the tall bookshelf towers, staring at us in shock as we approached. He was horribly familiar, though I hadn’t seen him in several years.

“Soren?!” Julia exclaimed. “Oh, thank god. We’ve been looking for you, we need-”

“_You?!”_ he shouted, pointing at us. “How…how are you…what are you doing here?!”

I froze. “Wait. You know us?”

“Of course I do!” he cried. “You’re Primes, and you’re _not_ supposed to be in this timeline!”


	24. Event Horizon

“You’re Primes, and you’re _not_ supposed to be in this timeline!”

Julia and I stared at him, then at each other.

“W-wait, how d-did you know we’re Primes?” she stammered confusedly.

Soren gestured wildly to both of us. “It’s all over you, like an aura. You’re obviously heroes…but there _are_ no heroes in this world! There can’t be! That’s the whole point of this dimension!”

Dragging in a deep breath, he continued, “You had to’ve noticed, right? You Primes are a nasty, observant bunch. There’s no way you don’t know.”

“No. I mean…yes, we know.” Julia said. “But…_why?”_

“Because she made it this way. She wanted to see what would _happen_.” Soren said bitterly. “What are you even doing in this timeline? As far as I know, it’s not exactly easy to get to.”

“We were trapped here, by another Prime.” I explained.

Soren scowled, his bushy orange moustache drooping. “Oh, this is not good. Primes are dangerous people, and having them pitted against each other can never end well. You must get out of here, and soon. There can’t _be_ heroes in this world- it completely throws off the balance.”

Julia and I exchanged a bewildered look again. “We…we don’t know how. We don’t have the exit code.” Julia said. “I just told you, we were _trapped_ here.” 

“And what do you mean, it throws off the balance? Why can’t there be any heroes at all? Julia and I haven’t even _done_ anything in this world; but are we heroes anyways because what’s happened in our own timelines?” I asked.

Soren’s dark eyes shifted between the two of us, and he sighed. “Don’t worry. I have a book on the timelines somewhere around here that should have the exit code. And yes. Even if you’re new to this dimension, your heroics still carry over with you. It’s inescapable.”

He began examining the bookshelf towers, beckoning for us to follow as he walked. “This timeline was specifically made to have _no_ heroes in it, other than the Order, and I don’t think we really count. It was created in the exact right way to prevent the Prime from ever existing. Everything else matches up the same, but without the key part, the Primum Movens. So having not just one, but _two_ Primes in this timeline could muck up our flimsy reality even more.”

“What happened with no Prime?” Julia asked. “How did everything…?”

Soren gave her a curious, sad look. “I don’t know how everything happened in your timelines, so honestly, it’s hard to explain. But seven, almost eight years ago, Ivor released a Wither on the world. It was under his complete control, fueled by the Command Block. One by one, he exposed and humiliated each of the remaining Order members, revealing all our lies as well as giving visible proof that we weren’t as great as everyone thought we were. People were crushed. They didn’t know what to think. We all became outcasts, except Ivor himself. He’s viewed in rather high regard, though as far as I know, he resents it. He’s not a hero, of course, but people respect him far more than they do the rest of us.”

“I mean…you _did_ lie to the entire world for years.” I pointed out quietly. Soren sent me a brief glare, then returned to looking through books.

“How long have you known about the timelines? How did you find out?” Julia asked.

This prompted another tired sigh from the orange-haired man. “The timelines were revealed to me a long, _long_ time ago, by an old friend. She was far more interested in them than I was, and I wish I’d have been able to catch onto her obsession sooner. At first, she only wanted to learn more, but in the end she…changed them. Ended up creating _this_ one, as an experiment. By the time I realized how dangerous this could be, I was far too late to stop her. I know that, later, a failsafe was created in case things got too bad in the future, but it was after she and I had already…lost contact. I took up studying the timelines much later, but the damage had already been done.”

I wasn’t sure what to think of all this. Who was this ‘she’? How had she _created_ a whole new timeline, especially one as whacked as this one?

“What was the ‘failsafe’? Because things _are_ starting to get pretty bad.” Julia asked. Soren shook his head.

“I can’t tell you that, partially because I don’t know. I don’t know how things have changed in your timelines, and I don’t know how this information would affect them. All I can say is that it has to be something that’s consistent in every timeline and will help you turn things back to normal if the deviations are getting out of control. Because yes, I am aware that things have been a little out of the ordinary lately. I assume that this other Prime, the one who trapped you here, has something to do with it…?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Her name’s Essa, and as far as we know, she’s trying to turn back time to fix some fatal mistakes she made in the past. Obviously, that’s not sitting well with the wellbeing of the universe.”

He shuddered slightly, still examining the bookshelf tower. “No, it’s not. You _must_ stop her, before everything’s too far gone. You Primes have extraordinary abilities in relation to the timelines, but even you won’t be able to fix the mess that will be made if she reverses time.”

Soren suddenly let out an exclamation of triumph and reached up to grasp a thin book from a higher shelf. It looked like nothing more than a small blue journal, and a very old one, at that. But he seemed happy as he flipped through the pages, settling finally on a list of strange words and symbols that I recognized to be exit codes.

“Whoa. What language is that?” I asked, staring down at the unfamiliar letters.

Julia gave me a funny look. “You…can’t read it?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No. It just looks like gibberish to me.”

Now it was Soren who looked at Julia curiously. “It would. This is a very old language, and I know of very few who can understand it. It’s been around since the time of the Admins.”

Julia flushed red and stammered some kind of excuse. I narrowed my eyes as I remembered how she’d been able to understand the chart back in that creepy room in the Order’s temple. How exactly could she read this long-dead language? Did it have something to do with her Admin powers?

Luckily, Soren decided not to press the matter right then. He showed the page to us, tapping his finger against one of the symbols. “That’s the one for this timeline. It’ll get you back to the In-Between, and you’ll have to decide where to go from there.”

“Thanks. I gotta say, you’re a lot more helpful than the Soren of _my_ timeline.” Julia said, scrutinizing the paper. “Seems simple enough. Let’s go.”

We returned to the center of the library, where there was ample space to create the gate. Julia began carefully tracing her diamond sword through the air, much less confidently than she had in the past.

“I hope you manage to stop this ‘Essa’.” Soren said thoughtfully as she slashed the sword downward, opening the tall white gate. “You’ll have to be on your guard, though. I have a feeling this whole situation is more complicated than it first appears. Giselle never could leave well enough alone when the timelines were involved.”

I’d already been barely a step away from the gate when he said this, and I turned around so fast I almost twisted an ankle. “_What_ did you say?!”

“I said, I fear this situation may be even more complicated than it looks from the outside. Be careful.” Soren repeated hesitantly. He seemed to know he’d said something he shouldn’t have.

Julia nudged my shoulder, though she too looked a bit unsettled. “Let’s just get out of here, Jess. The last thing we want is to mess stuff up even more by being where we shouldn’t.”

I gave Soren one more suspicious look, then took a deep breath and stepped into the gate. The white abyss was strangely comforting, since I’d started to grow so accustomed to jumping through timelines.

My life had honestly gotten so weird.

I appeared back in the In-Between, right in the center of the familiar circle of gates. This, also, would have been a relief…were it not for the alarming new sights of the In-Between.

Julia appeared beside me, and she did a double take as she looked around. “Whoa. What happened to this place?”

“I don’t know.” I murmured. The sky was a strange grey, smeared here and there with other dim colours. The horizon was a dull red, the colour of drying blood.

The ground was just as strange. The individual blocks below our feet were shot through with cracks, beginning to separate the earth into strange, misshapen sections. It shook slightly below our feet, as though it could shatter into a million pieces at any moment, casting us into the void. Outside the circle of gates, I could see more of those strange formations, the ground being forced upwards into strange lumps by an unknown force.

Julia glanced at me. “Okay, you heard what Soren said too, right? I didn’t just…hallucinate that?” she asked.

“What? The thing with Giselle?” I checked. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank god. I’m not losing it.”

I reached up to push a piece of hair out of my eyes. “Who _is_ Giselle? She’s buddies with Essa in that timeline, but she also knows Soren in that ‘control’ timeline? What’s her _deal_?”

“I don’t know. But…it sounded like she’s the woman he was talking about, right? The one that was obsessed with the timelines and changed some things?” Julia inquired.

I hesitated. “I guess. I mean yeah, it sounded like he was talking about her, but…_how_? How could she have _created_ a timeline?”

“With…the Command Block? Maybe?” Julia guessed, though she didn’t look sure. “Honestly, I have no idea. Let’s just go back to your timeline, and fill the others in on all this.”

“You don’t seem all that anxious to return to your own timeline. Can I ask why?” I asked, giving her a curious look. 

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just…not worried about it, I guess. I know that my versions of Radar and Stella have things under control in Beacontown, and this is more important. I’d rather not go back until everything’s fixed, so I know I won’t have to leave again.”

I supposed I could see her logic, though I still didn’t fully relate. I was eager to be home again.

I gestured dramatically to the gate that led to my timeline. “After you, milady.”

“You’re too kind, my dear sir.” she replied in a falsely posh voice. I laughed, and she winked playfully before stepping into the white abyss.

I was about to follow her when I heard a soft voice. “I must say, Jess, you two got out of there even faster than I thought you would. You are getting to be _quite_ the thorn in my side, you know that?”

I whirled around. Essa was standing only a few paces away from me, swinging her diamond sword casually back and forth.

“Essa. What in the…what are you doing here?”

She tipped her head to the side, looking me up and down. She was several inches taller than me, and I hated being forced to look up at her. “I’m a Primum Movens too, Jess. This is my territory just as much as yours.”

I eyed the sword nervously as I said, “We know what you’re doing. We’re going to stop you.” 

“No. No, you’re not. It doesn’t matter if you know what I’m going to do, Jess. You can’t even begin to understand the depths of my plans.” she remarked. Her voice was low and soft, and very intimidating when coupled with her predatorial stance.

I was about to say something smart-alecky, but I caught sight of something that made my mouth go dry. I’d been so focused on the sword and Essa’s calculating expression that I hadn’t even noticed the pink pig that had been hiding just behind her legs.

The pig looked at me curiously, and I felt my heart break as I noticed the familiar dark spot on its back.

No, not _it._ His.

“Is…is that…” I stammered, unable to speak louder than a murmur. It was incredible how much the sight hurt, even after seven years of accepting that he was gone.

Essa smiled lightly. “Reuben. Yes. And no, it’s not a trick, or a replacement, or anything like that. It’s really him.”

“In…in your timeline…Lukas was the one who fell and died. I…I thought that meant Reuben didn’t exist at all, but…?”

She tilted her head towards me again. “No, he existed, alright. I just took better care of him.”

The words were like a knife to my heart, as Essa well knew.

“That pain that you’re feeling right now? That sense of loss, and the knowledge that you could’ve done better? That is what I feel, _every day_. That’s _all_ I feel.” she continued in a low voice.

I couldn’t say anything, and she continued, stepping forward and shrinking the gap between us. “I know that you’re less than happy with my methods, but I just want you to understand. I’m doing this because I want the pain to go away. I want my friends back. I’ve been working towards this for years. It’s the only thing I want, the only thing that’s keeping me going. It’s my only dream. And you know what they say, _in somnis veritas_.”

“_Do_ they say that?” I asked, more than a little rudely as my voice finally came back. I realized now that this was the only reason she’d brought Reuben with her to this little confrontation. She was manipulating me, trying to get me to sympathize with her and forget that _she_ was the cause of all those deaths. I glared up at her elegant face only a few inches from mine, though she didn’t seem bothered.

“Yes, they do. In dreams there is truth. Rather fitting, don’t you think, since this whole scheme seems crazy enough to be a dream?” Essa asked with a demure smile.

She leaned in, so close I could see every dark fleck of colour in her eyes as she whispered, “What do you think, Jess? Is there truth in your dreams…or only in mine?”

I shoved her away, and hard. “Stop playing around, Essa. Did you actually want something from me, or are you just here to be unsettling?”

Rather than looking angry, she smiled in a pleasantly surprised sort of way, arching her dark brows. “Well, you _are_ a fierce one, aren’t you? You know, if we weren’t so at odds over this whole thing, I’d say we’d make a pretty formidable team.”

I bared my teeth as I snapped, “That’s not going to happen. What, did you really think if you got me alone that I’d suddenly agree to join your side? No way. I stand by what Julia said- I’ve seen what’s happened to your allies, and you’re not about to rope me into this mess.”

The diamond sword swished back and forth again as she said, “No, I didn’t think you’d be so easily swayed. I was hoping you’d be at least a little more reasonable without that creepy half-Admin putting words in your mouth, but ah, well. I have bigger Silverfish to fry.”

She grinned, and made a gesture towards her gate. I watched, heart aching, as Reuben obediently trotted into the gate, returning to Essa’s timeline.

“So, it looks like we’re parting ways yet again, and on no better terms. What a shame.” She said, shaking her head in mock sadness. But instead of following Reuben back to her own timeline, Essa turned away and walked towards the smallest, dimmest timeline. The one that wasn’t fully formed yet.

“Wait. What are you doing?” I asked uneasily.

She glanced over her shoulder to give me a wicked little grin. “Oh, sorry Jess. But that’s the kind of information that I really only tell my _allies_.” 

I debated my options. I knew nothing good could come of her in that timeline, but I wasn’t close enough to stop her. If I drew my sword and tried to fight her, she’d just leap through the gate. But I hated having to just walk away.

I huffed, clenching my jaw. I knew she was watching me, waiting to see what I would do. Resigned to my fate, I turned and started for the gate to my timeline again.

Just before I went through, she called my name again.

“Jess. You know you can’t stop me, right? And I don’t just mean right now.”

I glanced back at her, just for a second, before stepping into the gate. “Doesn’t mean we won’t try.”

\----

I emerged in the treasure room of the Order Hall. Julia was standing with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.

“_There_ you are! What the hell happened?! What took so long?”

I hesitated, unsure if I should tell her right then. She didn’t seem happy with me, and it might be better to explain the whole interaction with Essa when I had Lukas and Radar’s attention as well.

“Uh…nothing. I…thought I saw something, and went to check it out.” I tried. Her eyebrows furrowed, and I could tell she wasn’t willing to believe me just based on that. “It was really creepy; at first I thought it was some kind of bizarre hunched-over monster, but turns out it was just one of those weird lumps in the ground. There’s definitely something wrong with the In-Between.” I added, trying to make the lie more plausible.

She nodded slowly. “Huh, alright. You took _forever_, though. I was starting to think I’d need to go back and find you.”

“Sorry.” I muttered. “Do we know where the others are?”

Julia gestured to the entrance. “Yeah, they’re on their way. Radar was in here when I showed up…I’m afraid I may have startled him a bit.” she said with a guilty laugh. “He said he was going to go get Lukas, and someone else who apparently showed up, wouldn’t tell me who.”

I wondered briefly who it could be, but didn’t have long to speculate before the piston-engineered entrance slid open and Radar dashed in.

“Jess! You’re here!” he exclaimed. Three others followed him in, though I didn’t get a chance to see who before my intern attacked me in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re back, we were so worried!”

I laughed and hugged him back. As soon as he released me, Lukas was there to deliver a mostly-friendly punch to my shoulder. “_That’s _for disappearing on us. Honestly, first I wake up to my boyfriend getting stabbed, and then my best friend launches himself into some unknown portal? What kind of shitty night is that?”

“Sorry. Instinct just kinda took over, I guess.” I said with a not-completely-ashamed grin. I glanced over to see Aiden standing nearby as well, holding hands with Lukas and looking significantly less bloody than I’d last seen him. “Hey. Good to see you alive.”

He grinned. “You too. You’ve been gone for a while, you know.”

“How long?” I asked, my smile faltering.

“This is the third day.” Radar replied. “You disappeared Tuesday night, and it’s Friday afternoon now.”

I glanced at the window, confirming his claim, then met Julia’s eyes. “Whoa. It…did _not_ feel like that long where we were. Oh, and speaking of that, you _will not believe_ where we ended up, it was the weirdest thing I’ve ever…”

My voice trailed off as I finally noticed the fourth person to arrive, a pretty umber-skinned woman in a red robe. I tried to restrain a childish squeak of happiness as I hurried over to wrap her in a hug. “Olivia! What are you doing here?!”

She returned the embrace immediately, her laugh warm and familiar near my ear. “Hey, Jess. It’s so good to see you. Things have been calm in Redstonia lately, so I figured it’d be a good time to pay you a visit.”

She pulled away, holding my shoulders at arm’s length and still grinning. “Though it’s somehow _just_ like you to have completely disappeared the _one_ time I come to visit! Really, Jess. You’ll never change.”

I laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

“So what have you been up to? And who’s this?” she asked good-naturedly, gesturing to Julia.

“Oh, right. That’s Julia.” I told her as Julia gave her a slightly awkward little wave. “She’s a new friend.”

Olivia extended her hand to Julia. “Hi. I’m Olivia.”

“I know!” Julia laughed, then seemed to catch herself. “Jess, ahh…has told me a lot about you.”

Returning her attention to me, Olivia asked, “So, where have you been? Radar said something about dimensions, but wouldn’t give me any details.”

I froze, sinking into a moment of panic. I _couldn’t_ tell Olivia about the timelines, didn’t dare add to the problem of people knowing about them who weren’t supposed to. Technically speaking, there were already three people in this room who shouldn’t know about any of this, and adding a fourth would _not_ help things.

But…Liv was my best friend. I did _not_ hide things from her; never had, never wanted to, unless the situation absolutely, desperately required it.   
Did this one?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Julia subtly shaking her head, as though she knew what I was thinking. The message was obvious: _don’t tell her. _

I put on a smile that only felt a little bit false. “It’s…kind of a long story, but yeah, other dimensions. Not quite as crazy as you might be thinking, but pretty complicated nonetheless.”

“Jess, how about I tell the guys…the new information we found out, and you and Olivia can go hang out?” Julia suggested. “So you can tell her the _basics_ of the adventure, and all that.”

I relaxed slightly. “Sure, good idea.”

“Oh, cool! Then you can show me the new changes to Beacontown! I’ve been wondering how the place has adapted since the whole Admin mess.” Olivia said, and I grinned, relieved that she was making this so easy.

Meanwhile, I did not miss the concerned glance that passed between Lukas and Aiden when Julia said ‘new information’. I was honestly pretty glad it wouldn’t be left up to me to explain the whole ‘control’ timeline…though now it fell to me to tell Olivia about our mission without actually telling her about the timelines.

This would be interesting.

The two of us left the Order Hall, and she pulled me into a side-hug as we walked. “I’ve been missing you so much in the past few months, you have no idea. I love Redstonia, but the place makes me even more lonely sometimes.”

“I know exactly how you feel.” I said. “You’re basically leading the place now, aren’t you?”

She sighed and nodded. “Yeah. Though my assistant Nadia is keeping an eye on things for a few days while I’m here. Honestly, she’s a lot more cut out for being in charge than I am.”

Leaning over to whisper in my ear, Olivia confessed, “I’m actually hoping to push full leadership over to her sometime in the future.”

I gave her a surprised look. I hadn’t guessed that any of my other friends might be having the same doubts about our choices as I had. “You? Giving up responsibility? That’s…surprising.”

“Oh, don’t even think about teasing me.” She admonished. “I’m all for responsibility, I’m just…not a huge fan of being depended on for everything. It’s sort of stressful, you know.” 

“Yeah, I know.” I said quietly.

We headed further into town, remaining comfortably quiet for a few moments, before Olivia remarked, “So…Lukas and Aiden, huh?”

I snickered. “Yep. Not the pairing I would’ve expected, but they’re surprisingly cute together.”

“Right? Oh my gosh, they’re such lovebirds.” She laughed. Twin spots of colour appeared on her cheeks as she very casually said, “I guess that means Petra’s dance card is empty again, right? So to speak.”

I stared at her. “W-what- you, you’re telling me you…?” I stammered in surprise. She wouldn’t look at me, confirming my suspicions. “Wow. I never had you pegged for…”

“What, a lesbian?” she asked coolly. I laughed again, jabbing my finger into her side.

“No, a bad-girl type! Seriously, why are all of my friends suddenly getting into unconventional romances? Is there something in the air?”

She giggled and leaned away from my poking. “Shut _up_. Just because you’re aro doesn’t mean you get to mock the rest of us.”

“Oh, it _absolutely_ does.” I objected. 

Olivia shook out her mane of curly black hair, adopting a more serious expression. “Anyways. If you’re done making fun of the rest of us for having feelings…what’s been going on? I know you’ve been off on some crazy adventure, and you…seem a little different.”

“Do I?” I asked, stalling for time.

She gave me that classic best-friend look that told me she saw right through me. “Yes, you do. Come on, Jess, the longer you wait, the more curious I’m gonna get.”

I sighed slightly, and began the story, speaking fairly slowly and thinking through nearly every sentence before I said it. I was very, _very_ careful what I revealed- I didn’t tell her about the map, or that Julia and I had lived the same life, or that there was a dimension in which Reuben was still alive. I stayed as vague as I could, making it sound as though the other dimensions were completely different.

I was careful not to say anything about time, either, because I knew that Olivia was a very intelligent person and would easily put the pieces together if I gave her too many of them. I could see her frowning dubiously during some parts of the story, but I tried to divert suspicion as best I could.

I didn’t like lying to her, but I knew I couldn’t endanger the fragile balance of the timelines any more than I already had. Maybe someday I’d be able to explain the full truth, about the deviations and us Primes and the different versions of the people we knew and everything else I’d learned in the past week or so, but now was not the time.

She seemed extraordinarily interested in the idea of the In-Between, especially how it had changed the more dimensions we jumped through. She also acted like she knew that I was holding some things back, but didn’t pressure me to say any more.

We hung out for the rest of the day, eventually letting my lengthy explanation fade into more casual conversation. We aimlessly roamed the town, talking about everything that came to mind. She told me all about how things were going in Redstonia, and I showed her how the beautification project was going on the tower.

I ended up confiding several of my worries to her, about my aching loneliness and the fear that it was too late to recover the future I’d given up on. She hadn’t had too much to say about either of those, just wrapped me in a tight hug and told me she believed in me, that she knew I’d find a way to make it alright.

It was honestly surprising how much that helped.

Not just the hug or the comforting words, but her simple presence. The ability to pretend that things were okay for a little while, with my best friend by my side and the world not yet falling to pieces at our feet. 

The sun was disappearing below the horizon by the time we finally went back to the Order Hall, still chatting happily and laughing over memories.

Unfortunately for my peaceful state of mind, Julia was waiting for me just inside the main entrance.

Olivia went upstairs to her room, and I braced myself for whatever the other Prime was about to throw at me. From her grim expression, I knew it couldn’t be anything good.

“Hey. What’s going on?”

She looked down at the floor, scuffing her shoe against the smooth stone. “Ah…nothing’s exactly _going on_, but…”

I raised an eyebrow and made a motion with my hand, encouraging her to continue. She sighed. “Look. The fact is, I don’t think we know enough about the timelines. How they work, and how we’re supposed to fix all this. And I know this is probably risky for a handful of reasons…but I think it’d be helpful to make a trip to my timeline.”

“What for?” I inquired. She hesitated for a moment more.

“We need to find my Ivor.”


	25. Closed Universe

I was up and ready to go early the next morning, heading down to the storage room shortly after the sun rose. I’d already warned the others last night that Julia and I were leaving again, so at least I didn’t have to worry about freaking anyone out with a surprise disappearance. Olivia was planning to head back to Redstonia later in the morning, and would probably already be gone by the time we got back.

Julia had a point- we really _didn’t_ know enough about the timelines, and Ivor was the only person that we knew of who could help us.

It just seemed typical, somehow, that our only hope had apparently disappeared off the face of the earth.

But Julia said she had a plan to find him, which was good enough for me.

The other Prime was waiting in the storage room, closing a chest just as I walked in. I considered making a remark about her stealing my stuff, but I didn’t really have the energy. She grinned at me, looking more eager for the next leg of the journey than I was.

“You ready?” she asked.

I nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s get this over with.”

We headed into the treasure hall, which was one of the only rooms I was comfortable making a gate in since the ceiling was so high. I didn’t know _why _the gates had to take up so much space, but they did.

Radar walked in right as Julia began forming the symbols that would open the gate. He was known for being an early bird, so I wasn’t exactly surprised to see him.

He gave me an apprehensive glance, but didn’t say anything other than, “Please, try not to be gone forever this time?” 

I shrugged. “It’s not like I _tried_ to disappear for days. It just sorta happened.”

I was rewarded with an unimpressed look. “You know what I mean, Jess. That also goes for making decisions that could lead to you being trapped somewhere for days.”

“Sure, yeah, I’ll do my best.” 

As always, the downward slash of Julia’s sword opened the brilliant ivory gate, flooding the room with light. She gave me a brief over-the-shoulder glance, before stepping across the threshold.

“Good luck.” I heard Radar quietly say as I followed her. 

The abyss of white faded quickly as I stepped out the other side into the In-Between. It looked nearly exactly the same as it had last time, though the cracks in the blocks seemed larger. Always a good sign.

Julia was already heading towards her gate. She was strangely reserved this morning- although she’d seemed energetic as normal, she was unusually quiet.

She made an inviting motion towards the gate, but I shook my head. “You should go first, so you can visualize where you want us to be.” I said.

Julia smacked her open palm against her forehead. “Right, of course! Well, then I guess I’m going. Just…don’t go investigating any ‘monsters’ this time.” she admonished playfully, referencing the lie I’d told the day before.

My eyes widened, and I wanted to kick myself. I’d never told the others about the interaction with Essa! I’d been so distracted by Olivia, and Julia had been the one to tell Radar, Lukas, and Aiden about the ‘control’ timeline, so I’d completely forgotten!

Before I had the chance to say anything about it, Julia had already disappeared through her gate. I sighed aggrievedly and trailed behind, vowing to tell her as soon as I could.

This thought completely disappeared as I emerged on the other side and saw where we were, though. I was standing in a vast, open room, the broken stone walls lined with gold. The ceiling was far, far above my head, and several large chunks of gravel had fallen down, disrupting the relative emptiness of the place.

We were in the map room of the old Order’s temple.

Julia set the amulet on the wooden podium, then turned to me. “Flip that lever, and let’s get this show on the road.” she ordered.

“Uh…which one?” I asked, looking at the five levers on the quartz blocks in front of me. She shrugged.

“Can’t remember. Just try any.”

I hesitantly flipped the one on the right end. Looking up at the stained-glass blocks surrounding the map, I saw that the green and white ones had turned on, but no others. Another lever turned the blue and red ones on, but switched the first two back off. I sighed.

“Why are we here, anyways?” I asked. 

Julia gestured to the amulet, like it was obvious. “Tracking Ivor.”

I looked up at the map. “Uh…what if he’s not in the Overworld? Or elsewhere in the Portal Network? And didn’t Romeo kinda tamper with the amulet? Are you sure it still works?”

“Well…we’re about to find out, aren’t we? Wait, not that one!” she exclaimed as I reached for a different lever. I froze. “I just remembered. The one on the left end, then the one on the far right, then the one in the middle. I think. And your left, not my left!”

I flipped the levers in the order she said and was pleasantly surprised when the rest of the lights turned on, triggering the Redstone lamp in the center of the table. Its beam of light shone through the center of the amulet, activating the tracking system.

I walked over to where Julia stood in front of the map. The red and white lights were nowhere to be seen, but Magnus’s green light was on Boomtown, and Gabriel’s teal was on an island in the southwest. Ivor’s blue one, on the other hand…

“What the hell? How is that…how is that possible?” Julia mused quietly. 

“Isn’t that…where _Champion City_ is?” I checked. The map was too old to show it, but I was fairly certain that was where the ruins stood.

Julia nodded. “Good, I’m not going insane. That’s definitely where it was.”

“But how…w-why would he…” I stammered, unable to even sort my confusion into coherent questions. “The place is destroyed, right? Why in the Overworld would Ivor go there?”

“Yeah, partially. And I have no clue.” she replied, running her fingers through her hair. “But I guess the best thing to do would be to go there and check it out.”

I nodded distractedly. It didn’t make any sense. Ivor left his Far Lands lab and abandoned all his research when he _knew_ Julia was going there, just to travel to a ruined city that he didn’t even like? There had to be something else going on, some missing piece that we didn’t know about.

Julia grabbed the amulet, then started heading down the stairs to the library. I trailed behind, still thinking hard about the lack of logic in this scenario as we left the temple.

To my surprise, there was a Nether portal right outside, which Julia headed towards.

“A couple years ago, I got sick of having to walk or ride long distances, and set up a better minecart system in the Nether. The one the Order made is still there, but I added onto it. Now we’ll be able to get back to Beacontown in only a few minutes instead of having to walk the rest of the day.” she explained.

“Smart.” I said. The rest of the Order and I had made something similar in our world, though we hadn’t bothered to make a rail that led out to this temple, since we didn’t have reason to visit often. I wondered what had changed in Julia’s timeline that gave her the idea to make one.

We went through the portal, being immediately assaulted by the dreadful heat of the Nether. Distant monster noises and the faint popping and sizzling of lava reached my ears, and I shuddered. Though it may be an admittedly fascinating place, the horribleness of this lower dimension far outweighed any good qualities it might have.

Julia was already getting into one of the minecarts on a nearby rail. I quickly followed suit, wanting to be out of this place as soon as possible.

The trip was thankfully uneventful, whizzing through Netherrack tunnels and over lava lakes at top minecart speed. Though we saw plenty of monsters here and there, they at least had the decency to leave us alone.

It wasn’t long before we were jumping out of our minecarts, facing the portal labelled ‘Beacontown’.

“Is it weird that, after all our crazy dimension hopping, I’m actually _relieved_ to be going through something as simple as a Nether portal?” I asked, only partially joking.

Julia laughed. “Nope, not weird at all. Now, if you asked that to someone who _hadn’t_ spent the last week or so dimension-hopping with you, they might have a different answer, but…not me.”

She waved a hand towards the purple-and-black portal. “After you.”

I squared my shoulders and walked through the portal, feeling my senses blur and my knees go slightly weak just as they always did. It only lasted a few seconds, though, before I was stepping out the other side. I found myself looking out at Beacontown, albeit the version of Beacontown as it had been three months ago.

I still wasn’t used to the whole time difference thing.

Judging by the sun, it was nearly noon here, and the streets were full of people going about their daily lives. Julia was right behind me, gently pushing me aside as she glanced happily around the town. “There we go. _This_ is the Beacontown I’m used to.”

“Hey, my version of it isn’t _that _different.” I objected. She shrugged.

“Yeah, but this is home. You know?”

I nodded mutely. It was hard to explain, but I _did_ know. We’d travelled through a lot of different versions of Beacontown recently, but only the one in my own timeline really felt like home.

Julia and I headed for the gates of town. I could see from her wistful expression that she wanted to stay longer and sink back into her normal life for a little while, but there were things that needed to be done. She waved to people as we walked, most of whom I vaguely recognized. I watched her expression becoming slowly more pained, and I remembered what she had said the day before about wanting to avoid going home until she would be able to stay. This had to be hard on her.

We were passing the mines just inside of town when I heard a woman’s voice calling Julia’s name. I glanced around, trying to match the voice to a name.

Julia closed her eyes. “Ohhhh _man _am I in trouble. I was _really_ hoping she wouldn’t find out I was here.”

“Julia! Jules, sweetie, where have you _been?_ It’s not nice to just dump a town’s worth of responsibilities on your girlfriend and just _disappear_.”

Julia slowly turned around, coming face to face with a stern-looking woman with blonde hair that seemed too light for her olive skin. “Heeey, Stella. I, ah…”

Stella crossed her arms. “Don’t give me excuses, hon. You’ve been gone for two weeks, with not so much as a whisper! When you told me to ‘look after things for a little bit’, I didn’t think you meant ‘make sure my town stays afloat while I disappear into thin air forever’!”

I tried not to laugh as Julia cringed, her eyes darting around as she scrambled for an excuse. I’d never been more glad to have a reason to steer clear of romance. Stella turned her muted green eyes on me.

“And who are you?”

“Ella, this is Jess. He’s a friend. And Jess, this is my partner Stella, whom I’m ever-so-grateful to for managing my hectic little town while I’m away.” Julia introduced, grinning hopefully at her girlfriend.

Stella rolled her eyes, but she let a gratified smile slip through her upset exterior. “You’ll have to do more than that to get back into my good graces.” she admonished. “Honestly, one little compliment and she thinks she’s out of the doghouse. Nice to meet you, by the way.” she said to me.

I replied with a crooked smile, still heartily amused by their classic couple’s banter. “Likewise.”

“Stella, I’m sorry, but I’m actually…not back to stay yet. Jess and I still have some things to take care of. I know I never managed to explain what was going on, but I swear it’s important.” Julia said hesitantly.

Stella arched a dark brow, giving her a very clear are-you-serious-right-now sort of look. “_Important_, huh? More important than your town or your friends or your long-suffering girlfriend?”

Julia winced again, clearly feeling guilty. “Yes. It’s like…fate-of-the-universe level of important.”

“We can’t really tell you what’s going on, but she’s right. It’s _that_ important.” I added.

Still with her arms crossed, Stella eyed us both with pursed lips. After a moment, she said, “Alright. Then I’m coming with you.”

“What? No, you’re not.” Julia objected. “I told you this clear back before I left: I am _not_ letting you get wrapped up in this. Not to mention that this is some top-secret stuff, and I can’t tell you what’s going on.”

“Okay, then don’t explain anything and let me be confused. But you’re not getting out of this. I’m coming.” Stella said.

“_No._ I don’t want to drag anyone else into this. I feel bad enough that I’ve already gotten so many others involved.” argued Julia.

Stella gave her a falsely sweet smile, and proclaimed in a singsong voice, “If you didn’t want to involve me, you shouldn’t have come back here.” 

This prompted yet another sigh from Julia, who seemed to know she was losing the fight. She glanced over at me, trying to silently ask for help, and I raised both hands in a surrendering gesture.

“Ohhh, no. This is absolutely not my problem. Look, it doesn’t matter to me whether she comes along or not, but we should get moving.” I said. Stella gave me an approving look.

Julia tossed her hands into the air in exasperation. “Fine! _Fine_. You can come with us for this, but you’re _not_ getting involved in anything after that, get it? Not this time.”

Her girlfriend replied with a winning grin and a toss of her head that made her long bleached-blonde hair swish. “Excellent! Where are we going?”

“To Champion City.” Julia said concisely, turning back towards the gate.

Stella raised her eyebrows. “Well, then it’s a good thing you have me along, since I know the place better than anyone. And, ah…what are we looking for there?”

“It’s not a what, but a _who_.” I corrected. She gave me another curious look, but Julia was the one who replied.

“We need to find Ivor. There’s…something suspicious going on, and he has information. We’re not sure _why_ he’s in Champion City, but the amulet hasn’t been wrong yet.”

_Unless Romeo tampered with it more than we thought._ I mused, but didn’t say it aloud, since Julia was still speaking.

“By the way, Ella, have you seen any…weird stuff around lately? Like…things not behaving how they should?”

Stella huffed in an annoyed sort of way. “I’ll say. _Everything_ has been weird. Mobs aren’t acting normal, both hostile and passive ones. Time had been weird, too. Stuff happens too quickly, or too slowly, or…I don’t know, it’s just not right. And that’s just the beginning, the list could go on for days. Most of the things are small, but it’s still weird, and I don’t like it.”

Julia and I both made similar wincing motions, and Stella gave us both a distrustful look. “You didn’t have anything to do with this, did you? Oh, what am I _saying_? Of course you did.” 

“…Yeah, we kinda did.” Julia muttered. If Lukas were there, he probably would’ve made some comment about the technically incorrect ‘we’, but luckily he wasn’t.

The blonde woman rolled her eyes. “Just typical.”

I mostly tuned out of the conversation as we walked towards the ruins of Champion City. Stella informed Julia on all that had been happening in their Beacontown while she’d been gone. From the sound of it, Stella wasn’t as miffed about being put in charge as she’d been acting, though she wasn’t happy to have been sharing power with Radar. She had many, _many_ complaints about him.

I noticed that this version of Champion City didn’t look quite as wrecked as the one I knew, and I guessed that was due to Julia’s Admin powers granting her the ability to fix things quickly. I tried to remember if Julia had said Stella knew about the powers or not, then surmised that she must. Julia didn’t seem like the type to keep a secret like that from her partner.

Then again, she was keeping a pretty big one from her right now.

Surprisingly enough, Stella didn’t seem too put out by the fact that we couldn’t tell her what-all we were up to. She tried asking Julia a few more times, but I thought that was more for the purpose of bothering her girlfriend than actually trying to get answers. I already knew Stella was weird like that.

It wasn’t long before we were entering Champion City. The outside wall had been mostly repaired, but there were still a few large gaps here and there. The interior of the city was mostly the same- some things were repaired, and others weren’t, in a fairly random pattern.

The whole place was strangely quiet. In my version of the place, I knew that a lot of people were still living in the less-damaged sections while the rest was being repaired, but apparently everyone was gone from here.

Julia shuddered slightly. “I hate when such huge places are quiet like this. It creeps me out _so_ much.”

“Right there with you.” I muttered.

Stella glanced around thoughtfully. “Well? Where is he supposed to be?”

Julia frowned slightly. “I don’t know. The map was too old to include Champion City, so we just have a rough approximation. It seemed like he was on the far side of town, though I’m really not sure.”

“We’ll have to split up and do our best. It’s quite possible he’s hidden or trapped somewhere.” I said. 

“Right. Holler if you find anything suspicious.” Julia ordered.

We went separate ways, searching for any sign of the eccentric potion master. I wasn’t really sure what to look for, since I had no idea if he’d come here on his own or was abducted and brought against his will. I was hoping for the first, but strongly suspecting the second. The only question was…who would do that?

Alright, so maybe that wasn’t the _only_ question. As soon as I mentally asked that one, my brain reminded me that also required a _why_ and a _when_ and a _why here_, and more. 

I wandered for a while, searching carefully in every empty building. I was on the very edge of town, just barely inside the wall. There was no sign of life anywhere, no birdcalls echoing from the fallen spires or little plants springing up between cracked blocks. It was like an apocalyptic wasteland.

The one thing I found was a partially broken fountain, still spitting water out the top that didn’t reach the pool that made up the lower half. I narrowed my eyes as I realized the bottom of the fountain was made mostly of carved quartz- _internal shudder_ -with one iron trapdoor tucked discreetly away along the side where no one would see it if they weren’t already looking.

I knelt on the edge of the large fountain. I could see nothing but darkness through the gaps in the trapdoor…but there _was_ a hidden space under there.

I quickly opened my inventory and crafted a lever. I placed it next to the trapdoor and quickly switched it, opening the iron grate. I could see a ladder leading down into unknown territory below.

I hesitated slightly, before pushing my doubts aside and clambering in. There was, of course, the chance that this was nothing more than a weird hidden room made by someone who had absolutely nothing to do with anything that was going on. There was also the chance that this led to a secret underground prison.

My descent down the ladder was swift, almost hasty. It was extremely dark, and strangely cold the lower I went. I pulled a torch from my inventory as soon as I touched the ground, squinting in the sudden light and blinking in surprise at the scene in front of me.

The room I was now in was small and strangely shaped. Large paintings covered each of the six walls, with little to no room for torches or anything else. The images were simple and stylized, each of a different biome. One was of a desert temple, another of a witch hut in a marsh, another of…wait a minute.

I found myself looking at one that definitely did _not _fit with the others. At first glance, it seemed like a mostly empty plains biome, but I saw otherwise.

It was unmistakably the In-Between, or at least what it used to look like, with the perfectly flat ground and brilliant eternal dusk sky. I stared at it suspiciously, then switched the torch to my left hand.

I had to punch at the large painting twice before it broke, revealing a small two-block space in the wall.

“Ha!” I exclaimed, collecting the canvas from where it had fallen. “I _knew_ there was something here.”

I stepped into the newly exposed tunnel. If I’d been any taller, I’d have to duck, but luckily I wasn’t. I could see very faint light coming from somewhere ahead of me, and I hurried towards it.

The low tunnel soon opened up into another small room, though this one was _very_ different. A Redstone torch had been placed in each corner of the room, and several chests lined one wall. The other five walls were iron bars- the front of a quintet of prison cells. Four were empty. One was not.

“Ivor?” I asked in a hushed voice, peering at the huddled shape in the corner of the cell. The person twitched suddenly, like they’d been yanked out of a fitful sleep, and stared up at me in surprise. I felt relief wash over me as I registered the faintly hostile dark-blue eyes and the messy mane of black hair.

“Ivor, thank _god_. Don’t worry; I’ll get you out.” I told him, placing the torch and retrieving my pickaxe from my inventory.

He gave me a suspicious once-over as I began chiseling away at the bars. “Who are you? How did you find me?”

“I’m a friend of Julia’s.” I said. His eyes widened.

“Julia? She’s here?”

I nodded as the last of the bars broke. “Yeah, and she’ll be glad to see you. We, ah…kinda need your help.” 

He stood swiftly, and though he quickly stepped out of the small cell, he retained his dubious expression. He was wearing the same getup I’d seen when he left Beacontown, the gold-trimmed olive coat and brown trousers, though now significantly more disheveled. His hair was the familiar loose and stringy mop that I’d grown used to in years prior.

Ivor took a half step away from me, his expression falling into one of recognition and horror. “Oh…no. Oh no oh no. You’re…you’re a _Prime_. You’re the one she was thinking about finding. Oh, _no_.”

I stowed the pickaxe in my inventory. “Uh…yeah. I’m Jess.”

“This is even worse than I thought. Why are you here? Where’s Julia?” he inquired, shaking his head. I gestured to the way I’d come.

“We came to find you, since there’s some things we don’t know that we probably really need to. And she’s somewhere aboveground. Come on, we should go.”

“One moment.” He said, regaining his cool for the time being. He hurried over to the stack of chests and opened one, transferring several items to his inventory before following me through the tunnel.

We quickly made our way up the ladder, and Ivor scowled at the tall city around us, blinking in the bright daylight. “I wondered where I was. That little _witch_, having the nerve to kidnap me from my own secret lab just to bring me _here_. No decency!”

“Wait, who?” I asked nervously.

Before he could answer, I heard a shout of triumph and turned to see Julia running towards us. Ivor immediately smiled as she hugged him tightly. “Ivor! Oh my god, I was so worried! What happened?”

He pulled away from the relieved embrace, now glowering darkly. “I was double-crossed, that’s what happened. I trusted the wrong person, and it turned around to bite me.”

“Who?” I asked. I had a very nasty feeling I already knew who, but wanted to hear it said aloud.

He spat on the ground. “_Giselle_. Traitorous little imp. I don’t know why on earth I trusted her, because I sure as hell shouldn’t have.”

Julia looked like she’d forgotten how to breathe. “W-what? Giselle?!”

“Yes, her. She’s the one who told me about the timelines in the first place. We’d been associates for years; not really friends, but trade contacts and general allies when needed. I didn’t think twice about trusting her when we began research on the timelines, but she had ulterior motives.” he snapped.

Julia and I exchanged a panicked look. I’d suspected it was her, but I didn’t know how to explain my hunch. Who the hell _was_ she?

“How do _you_ know her?” he asked, frowning up at Julia. “As far as I know, I’ve never mentioned her.”

“Uh…we kinda met her…but in a different timeline. She was…problematic.” Julia hedged.

I snorted. “_That’s _putting it lightly.”

Ivor cursed. “Dammit. And you’re right about that- she is _not_ a simple person. She’s been around for a long time, and she’s ridiculously smart. She’s part of a bigger plan, and I don’t know what it is or who’s behind it. Hell, maybe she _is_ behind it.”

A shudder overtook me as he said that. Giselle had definitely been a part of Essa’s plans…but that didn’t include the Giselle of _this_ timeline.

Did it?

“But who _is_ she? What’s her story? Why does _she_ know about the timelines, and everything?” I asked.

“I don’t _know_. She never offered that information.” Ivor said.

Julia made a small outraged noise. “And you never asked?!”

“Of course I asked!” Ivor snapped back. “But she wouldn’t say anything, or gave me some incredibly unsatisfactory half-answer. Some people like their anonymity, you know. But that’s not the point. You two need to fix the timelines _now_.”

“Ivor, we don’t know _how_. We don’t know what we’re looking for, or how to use it, or…anything, really. We’ve been learning stuff as we go along, but it’s not enough.” Julia admitted. 

“What do you mean, ‘as we go along’?” Ivor echoed. “What have you been doing?”

Julia suddenly looked hesitant. “Uh…going through different timelines. Talking to the Primes. Learning random shit, some of which I didn’t want to know.”

“There’s another Prime who’s working against us.” I started. “Actually, I guess it’s _us_ that’s working against _her_, but whatever. She’s got some plan for the timelines- she wants to use them to turn back time, to put it simply. But we can’t figure out how she’s gonna do that, or how to stop her, or…like Julia said. Anything.”

Ivor grumbled and began pacing a path along the wall. “Oh, we’re in it deep. So many Primes involved, with so many different plans and motives…this is _bad_. And you know that things get thrown even more out of balance every time someone new learns about the timelines, right?”

“Yeah, we got that.” I said. “We’ve been careful to only tell the other Primes and a few close friends from my timeline, but there’s a lot of people from Essa’s timeline who know.”

“Essa?” he asked.

“The evil bitch of a Prime who’s messing with the timelines to fix things she fucked up in the past.” Julia filled in bitterly. “That doesn’t matter. What _matters _is, how do we stop her? How do we fix everything?”

Ivor paused in his pacing. “I don’t know how to deal with the rogue Prime, since I don’t know her or her plan or her motives. You’ll have to figure that out on your own. But no matter what she’s doing, she must not have interfered with the missing constant yet, or things wouldn’t be this bad.”

“The missing constant, right! We found something about that in your research in the Far Lands!” Julia said. Ivor nodded.

“I still don’t know what it is, but I know that removing it will put everything back to normal. The timelines are incredibly fragile, and impossible to fix once they’ve been broken. But if you act quickly enough, you can save this _before_ everything is too out of control. This Essa…her timeline will still be a mess, but it won’t be throwing off the balance of the universe anymore.”

“So does that mean the missing constant is from her timeline?” I asked.

“Not necessarily.” Ivor told me. “Logic says it probably is, but I really don’t know. All I know is that it’s something connected to the Prime, and that it _can_ be removed. It’s not like a past event that did or didn’t happen. It _can_ be fixed…if you can figure out what it is.” 

Julia sighed exasperatedly. “Well, how do we do that?”

“We use the other Primes.” I said, thinking fast. “We need to talk to Jacek and Jo again, and lay out a ‘map’ of each of our timelines. Figure out where they’re similar and how they’re different. Look at all the deviations and variables, and see where things changed.”

Julia bit her lower lip. “But that won’t tell us anything about Essa’s…”

“Yeah, I know. But if the missing constant is from any of our timelines, we’ll find it. And if it’s not, we’ll know it’s from hers and we’ll be able to take steps towards finding it.” I replied. 

Ivor was pacing again. “For now, that might be the best way to do it. But I don’t like the idea of so many Primes working together. You’re a dangerous kind of person, and you never know what could happen with so many of you in one place.”

Julia rolled her eyes. “Ivor, there’s only four of us. And we’re not creepers- we’re not gonna randomly detonate just because we’re around each other.”

“You never know.” Ivor muttered, then quickly cleared his throat when Julia shot him a disdainful look. “What do you mean, there’s only four of you? Aren’t there six timelines?”

“Yeah, but Essa’s from one, and the other…I dunno, isn’t fully formed yet.” Julia said.

I smacked my palm against my forehead, cursing my forgetfulness again. “Julia, I completely forgot to tell you! Essa’s _in_ that timeline, the newest one!”

“WHAT?!” she screeched, and I winced.

“I’m sorry, I know, I’m the worst. But yes, yesterday when we were heading back to my timeline, she…showed up, and went through the gate to that one.”

Julia didn’t speak for several moments, her mouth opening and closing like she wanted to yell at me but couldn’t find the words. “You tell me this NOW?! What the _hell_, Jess! This is important!”

“Hey, you kept your Admin powers a secret from us, I’d say we’re even.” I muttered. Julia made a frustrated motion with her hands, looking like she wanted to strangle me. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I just got distracted yesterday, and there was other stuff to deal with this morning and it just…slipped my mind.”

She let out a loud huff. “It doesn’t matter now. There’s nothing we can do, anyways.”

“You got _that_ right.” Ivor said. “Do you know how much damage this is going to do? If this Essa is as bad as you say, she’s not going to be merciful.”

“She’s going to push things even more out of balance. We know.” I said. “We’ve got to stop her.”

“Damn right we do. There’s only been little changes so far, but I have a feeling life in the Overworld is gonna get a lot more complicated if we don’t fix this soon.” Julia muttered.

Ivor nodded. “You bet it is. The timelines aren’t meant to be messed with like this, as I’m sure you two already know. Things are going to keep getting worse and worse, and even I don’t know the end product. Though I _do_ know it involves something along the lines of eternal darkness and horrific boss monsters and a lot of prolonged death. The entirety of the universe could be plunged into pure chaos if you don’t fix this soon.”

I sighed. “Great. That’s encouraging.”

“I’m not here to be encouraging, I’m here to tell you what you need to do, which is _fix this mess _before we’re in too deep to get out.” the potion master informed me.

I hesitated for a moment before asking, “What…what if we’re already in too deep?”

Ivor gave me a chillingly serious look. “You’d better pray, to anyone who’ll listen, that you’re not.” 

On that disturbing note, we headed back through Champion City the way we’d come, meeting Stella along the way. Julia said goodbye to them both as I began making the gate. I’d memorized each of the ‘exit codes’, but remembering the symbols and actually drawing them (in the air, using a sword as a pen) were two completely different things. 

Stella seemed to know she’d been left out of an important conversation, but for the moment accepted Julia’s rushed explanation of, “There’s a lot of different dimensions and we’ve gotta save the universe before everything goes crazy, I love you and I swear I’ll be back soon.”

“Be careful.” Ivor warned us as I slashed the sword downward, opening the gate. “I don’t think I need to remind you of the forces you’re dealing with.”

“No, you don’t.” I said. Haunting images of Beacontown fallen and overrun with monsters flashed through my mind. I didn’t fully know what-all ‘plunged into pure chaos’ entailed, but I sure as hell didn’t want to find out.

Julia asked Ivor if he wanted to go with us, to keep us on track and provide more information should we need it, but he’d very adamantly declined. He claimed to be very worried about paradoxes and the effect of ordinary people travelling to different timelines, but I caught a glimpse of unfiltered terror in his eyes at the prospect of going to another dimension.

“Remember, even if there’s things you don’t think you know…you’re Primes. You’re a lot more connected to all of this than the rest of us ever will be.” he said right as we were about to leave.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Julia asked hesitantly. Stella’s expression seemed to imply she was thinking much the same thing.

Ivor smiled grimly. “That’s up to you to decide. Now go! You have multiple dimensions to save, and not a lot of time to do it!” 

We found ourselves back in the In-Between, which looked much the same as it had before. Julia sighed.

“What are we supposed to do now?” she asked. “Just…go find Jacek and Jo, and hope we can scrape together some answers?”

“Not yet.” I decided, heading towards the gate to my timeline. I’d just had an idea. “We may know more about what we’re supposed to do, but there’s some questions I’d still really like answered. This whole thing with Giselle isn’t sitting well with me, and I want to know more.”

Julia hesitantly trailed behind me. “But _how?_ She’s obviously a total wildcard- who in the Overworld would have any answers about her?”

I shot her a sly grin as I stepped across the threshold, picturing very clearly where I wanted us to go. “You’ll see.”


	26. Further Back

“Reubeeeen! Reuben, where _are_ you?!”

The boy dashes through the woods, ducking under low branches and hopping over fallen logs, calling out for his pet pig. He can’t believe everything has turned bad so fast.

One minute, he and his friends were triumphant, standing on top of their wool zombie statue, feeling like they owned the world. The next, he’s found himself bolting through the darkening woods as he tries to find his beloved pig, who’d been set on fire by their rivals.

_Fire_! Of all the nasty, devious tricks to pull.

He is going to _kill_ Aiden.

The sun is just starting to go down, the late afternoon sinking into the beginnings of evening. He needs to find Reuben soon, since he really, _really_ doesn’t want to be out here after dark. He’s completely unprepared right now, having nothing but a flint and steel and a wooden sword in his inventory.

Slowing to a stop, he glances worriedly at the trees around him. There’s no sign of anyone or anything, much less a scorched pig in a dragon costume.

“Reuben?” he calls again hesitantly. This time, he hears a slight rustling noise, and whirls around.

It’s not Reuben. It’s not even a mob.

A tall, elegant woman appears in his line of sight, and he tenses slightly. He’s never seen her before, but she seems vaguely familiar in a way he can’t describe. She looks to be several years older than him, and has long dark hair that’s pulled away from her face by a coral-pink hairclip. Though she’s undeniably pretty, there’s also something faintly disconcerting about her.

The unsettlingness disappears when she smiles at him and says, “Well, hello.”

“Uh…hi.” He replies hesitantly, unsure of how to react.

After a quick glance around, she asks, “I heard your voice and thought I should come investigate. Are you looking for someone?”

He slowly relaxes as she walks towards him. “Yeah. My pet pig, Reuben…he ran off. Have you seen him?”

She shakes her head. “I’m sorry to say I haven’t. I’ll help you look, though, if you want. I know these woods pretty well.”

She seems so genuine and kind that he can’t help but agree. “Sure, thanks. I’m Jasper, by the way.”

“Call me Essa. And, ah…if I can ask about this pig of yours…why did he run off? They normally seem like such calm animals.”

Jasper is immediately gratified by that she doesn’t point out the fact that a pig isn’t exactly a normal pet to have. “They are. He…sorta got caught on fire. My friends and I were at the building competition, and one of our rivals tried to sabotage us with lava, and it…didn’t end well. Reuben took off _somewhere_ this way. I just don’t know where.” he summarizes briefly.

Essa raises her eyebrows, her expression full of shock. “Lava, huh? That seems extreme.”

“_Extreme_ is basically Aiden’s middle name.” Jasper grumbles, kicking at a pebble as he walks. “He practically lives to torture me.”

She shakes her head sympathetically. “Sometimes people are just impossible. I remember I had to deal with someone like that back when my friends and I used to compete.”

“You did the building competition too? Did you ever win?” Jasper asks, glancing up at her.

A mysterious smile darts across Essa’s face. “Once. But it wasn’t as much of a big deal back then.”

“I think we actually have a pretty good chance of winning this year. Assuming, of course, that Axel and Olivia managed to save the build.” Jasper mutters, feeling another flash of anger at Aiden.

“They’re your friends?” Essa asks, sounding genuinely curious. 

“Yeah. They’re both big dorks, and they argue a lot, but they’re awesome. I couldn’t live without them.” he says truthfully. Although he’s not used to anyone paying as much attention to him as Essa is right now, he’s enjoying it.

“I can imagine.” Essa replies softly.

Jasper isn’t sure what to make of the quiet note of pain in her voice. He chooses to ignore it for now, and instead asks, “What were you doing in this part of the woods? There’s not much out here.”

“On my way to EnderCon, actually.” She says with a light smile, the ache gone from her voice. “I’m sort of a nomad, and I usually prefer traveling lesser-known roads. But I’m not a _total_ recluse, and I thought it might be fun to check out the festival tonight.”

“Oh, it is fun.” Jasper tells her. “My friends and I have gone _every_ year, since I was a new spawn. It’s awesome, you should definitely go. There’s so many cool booths and things to see, and there’s always great music, and _Gabriel the Warrior_ is gonna be there this year!”

She laughs. “Well, I guess that settles it.” 

Jasper pauses, glancing around a slight clearing in the forest, then continues walking. He’s not sure how far Reuben might’ve run.

“Don’t worry- we’ll find him.” Essa says gently, as though she’s read his mind. “Pigs are hardy little critters, I’m sure he’s fine.”

Her tone is confident, which calms him. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I’m just…ugh, I’m _so_ mad at Aiden.”

“Trying to sabotage your build _and_ hurting your pet? I’d be mad too.” Essa says. Jasper nods angrily.

“He’s so annoying. All the Ocelots- uh, our rival group -are pretty irritating, but he’s the _worst_. He’s always making fun of me, and just generally being awful. He says all this weird stuff, like it _should _be a compliment, but he’s always being sarcastic or just rude. I swear it seems like he has a personal vendetta against me in particular, and I don’t know why.”

Essa gives him a thoughtful side-eyed glance, appearing to be considering something.

“What?” Jasper asks, looking curiously up at her. She shakes her head.

“Nothing. He sounds terrible.”

Jasper crosses his arms. “They _all_ are. Well…I guess Lukas isn’t _so_ bad, but he’s still really arrogant and kinda pushy and…I take it back, they’re all terrible.”

Essa laughs, though it sounds more sympathetic than mocking. “Trust me, I know how you feel.”

“Really?” he asks. “You…don’t really seem like someone who would have trouble with bullies.”

“Well, I don’t anymore, but I used to when I was your age. You actually remind me a lot of myself when I was younger.” Her dark, slanted eyes are still sparkling with mirth, though he doesn’t understand why.

Jasper could swear she seems more and more familiar by the minute. Logically, he knows he’s never met her before. He would definitely remember her. But still…there’s something unusual about this dark-eyed stranger.

“How’d you deal with them? Bullies, I mean.” he asks.

She pauses, then shrugs. “I don’t really remember, actually. Honestly, I mostly just took it when I was young, and then…well, circumstances changed. So as much as I wish I could help, I’m afraid I don’t have much in the way of advice.” she tells him gently. 

“It’s okay. They’re not quite as intimidating as they think they are.” is his flippant reply.

To his surprise, Essa laughs. “Trust me, kid. That’s the truth for most of the problematic people you’ll run into. They think they’re tougher than obsidian, but they end up crumbling like gravel. You don’t have to be stronger, braver, or scarier than anyone else. You just have to hang on long enough for everyone else to fall away. I’m not saying to stay out of the action completely, but no one I know gained very much by throwing themselves into every problem that crossed their path. It’s not beneficial to anyone to shout over everyone else, or to shove through the crowd.”

“But there’s not much to be gained by staying quiet, either.” Jasper points out. “You can’t get anywhere by whispering or waiting for said crowd to part on its own.”

She nods appraisingly, seeming impressed by his insightfulness. “That’s true, of course. In my opinion, it’s all about finding that middle ground. The ability to weave through the crowd, and say something worth saying, at any volume you wish. Being independent, but not pushy. Doing things for yourself. _That’s_ where you get places.”

He glances up at her again, noticing the slightly bitter tone her voice sinks into. She’s not being metaphorical; she’s speaking from experience.

A dim voice at the back of his mind considers that maybe he should be suspicious of this. He doesn’t know anything, really, about this mysterious woman. She could be dangerous.

But this small sliver of worry is quieted by how kind and genuine Essa seems. Sure, maybe she’s dangerous. Or maybe she’s just a helpful kindred spirit, and Jasper is being paranoid.

“I guess I am sort of one of those who’s just waiting for the day that the small ones take over.” Jasper admits. “Even though I know that’s not gonna happen without someone _making_ it happen. I think I…I like what you mean. About doing things on your own.”

She gives him a cryptic smile. “The meek don’t inherit the earth, kid. That’s just what the bold tell ‘em so they’ll get out of the way. _Audentes fortuna iuvat._”

He blinks his dark teal eyes. “What?”

“Fortune favors the bold.” she translates with another quirk of her elegant mouth.

He doesn’t have time to think more in-depth about this as Essa abruptly stops walking. “Uh-oh.”

Before them lie two possible paths that Reuben could’ve taken. To the left, pig tracks lead off into more forest. To the right, smoke is visible in the near distance.

“Uh…” Jasper hesitates, glancing back and forth. The sun is just sinking below the horizon, making the woods darker and darker by the moment. They don’t have time to explore both ways.

“How ‘bout we split up?” Essa suggests cautiously. “I’ll check out the smoke, and you can follow the tracks?”

He nods. “Sure, good idea. One of us will _have_ to find him that way. So uh…if you don’t, we could meet back up at EnderCon?” he suggests.

She replies with a light smile. “Alright. Good luck.”

Without waiting a moment more, Jasper hurries off, scanning the dim trees. He’s infinitely glad he met Essa. He’s heard the phrase ‘friends can come from anywhere’ before, but didn’t really believe it until now.

Essa watches the boy disappear into the shadows of the forest, her practiced gentle smile stretching into a grin of triumph.   
Instead of walking towards the smoke, she turns, heading instead for the distant lights of EnderCon. She already knows that Jasper will find his pig on his own- after all, _she_ managed just fine without any help, more than seven years before.

This is going to be even easier than she’d thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy i've been looking forward to this chapter for a LONG TIME,,


	27. Buried Histories

“Okay, what the _hell_ are we doing here?” Julia asked, planting her hands on her hips.

I could understand why she might be confused. We were now standing in the Underneath, facing the wreckage of the Oasis.

Though it had to be said that it didn’t look nearly as much like _wreckage_ as before. Although she’d been working mostly alone, Xara had done a great deal of work on the place since I’d seen it last.

I strolled casually towards the terracotta and andesite house where I knew Xara lived. I’d come down here several times since the defeat of the Admin, supplying her with resources and building ideas. It was just her, Romeo, and a few former scavengers working to rebuild the once-great city, but they didn’t seem to be daunted by the challenge.

Most of the smaller side-buildings had been repaired, and a larger building in the center was under construction. Scavengers and the giant Enderman had torn the place nearly down to its base, so it had to be rebuilt from the ground up. 

“I had an idea. We know too little about Giselle- all we’ve really learned is that she’s been around for quite a while now, and she’s interfered with the timelines.” I began.

“Also, she’s unnecessarily mysterious and smug.” Julia added bitterly

“Yeah, but that doesn’t exactly give many clues as to who she really is.” I replied patiently. “Anyways, it suddenly hit me: why don’t we ask the man who literally built the Overworld? The Admins _must_ have known about the timelines; if anyone can help, it’s them.”

Julia was nodding slowly. “Yeah…I suppose that adds up. But Romeo was also really aloof after his whole world-building thing, so…you know there’s a chance he won’t know anything helpful.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I know. This _is_ kind of wishful thinking, I guess.” 

I hesitated right in front of the door to Xara’s little house. The glowstone lamp above the door had been turned off, meaning that the former Admin probably wasn’t at home. “Shoot. I wonder where she is.” I muttered, rapping my knuckles against the door anyways. There was no answer.

“She’s probably working on repairs.” Julia guessed, glancing back at the ruined city.

“Most likely. Come on, let’s see if we can find her.” I suggested, walking back on the carved-andesite path.

We headed towards the large center building, both of us scanning for any signs of humanity. A few passive mobs were roaming around, but I didn’t see any other people. 

“Xara? XAA-RA?!” Julia called suddenly, making me jump.

“Careful.” I warned her. “She might be kind of hostile if she hears you, since you don’t know this version of her.”

Julia smacked a hand against her forehead. “Dammit, that’s right! You yell, then.”

“Xara!” I shouted, cupping my hands around my mouth.

“Whatchu holleran’ about?” a raspy voice called down. I looked up to see a vaguely familiar person standing on top of one of the pickaxe statues on either side of the main building.

They jumped down, strolling towards me. I saw now that it was a tall, skinny woman, her face streaked with black paint and her unnaturally white hair mostly hidden by the pig hat she wore. I had never been certain if it was fake or not, and I didn’t particularly want to ask.

She narrowed her red eyes at us. “Whatchu doin’ back here, Jess? Dontcha gotta town to run, or somethin?”

“Hello, Porkchop.” I sighed. She’d never been my favorite of the scavengers. To me, it didn’t matter that they were helping Xara repair the city; I didn’t trust any of them. “Yes, I do, but there’s more important things I’ve gotta deal with right now. Where’s Xara?”

She propped her fists on her hips and leaned towards me. “Important, eh? Y’know somethin’ that’s important ta you may not be important ta the rest’ovus. Whaddaya want from Xara? And whoss_at_?” she asked, nodding towards Julia.

I was starting to get irritated. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I need Xara’s help. And Julia is with me, so leave her alone.”

Porkchop grinned slyly. “Ah-ah, Jess. You don’ make the rules down here, ya know. If ya want m’help, I’m gonna haveta ask for somethin’ in return. T’s just how it works here.”

Luckily, I was saved from having to further negotiate with the disagreeable woman. “Porkchop, leave them alone. In case you’ve forgotten, _you_ don’t make the rules down here anymore, either.”

Xara had appeared from seemingly nowhere, walking up while we were distracted. Porkchop seemed suddenly guilty. “Uhh…no offense meant, ma’am. How, uh…how didja know I was here?”

“Your voice kind of carries.” Xara said, raising a brow. “Now get out of here. I’m sure you have better things to do with your life than pester Jess every time he sets foot down here.” 

Porkchop scrambled quickly away, and Xara smiled at me. She’d been recovering well from her stint in the Sunshine Institute. Her skin still looked grey from being out of the sunlight, but her eyes were less tired and her attitude had greatly improved. “Hello, Jess. What brings you down here?”

“Uh, I kinda need your help. And Romeo’s, if he’s here. There’s kind of…a _thing_ kinda came up, and I’m just…hoping you can give me some information.”

Xara nodded. “Yeah, he’s around. What’s going…wait. Who the hell are you?” she asked, suddenly catching sight of Julia.

Julia waved, somewhat awkwardly. “Hi. I’m Julia.”

Xara’s deep purple eyes narrowed. “What in the Overworld are you doing in this timeline?! Don’t you _know_ how badly this can mess things up?”

Her suspicious look was suddenly replaced by one of surprise and realization. “Wait. _That’s_ what’s been going on. Oh, Jess, _no_. Please tell me you didn’t get yourself mixed up in the timelines. _Please_.”

“Uh…sorry.” I said by way of reply, not knowing what else to say.

She pressed her fingertips against her forehead. “Jess, I knew you were an adventure seeker, but this is dangerous. Do you know how badly this can mess things up? If you-”

“Yes, Xara, I know. I’ve already been told, multiple times. We’re screwing up the universe, yada yada. I _know_. That’s kind of why we’re here.” I interrupted.

“It’s not actually _us_ that’s messing things up, for the record.” Julia said. “There’s another Prime who’s trying to turn back time to fix some of her stupid mistakes- but that’s not the point. We’re trying to stop her, and we need your help with that.”

Xara looked suspiciously between us. “Alright.” she said finally. “Romeo’s over on the other side of the Oasis. It’ll be easier to go there to talk, since the scavengers don’t seem to hang out there as much. This isn’t the kind of thing they should hear, and not only just because they haven’t all gained my full trust.”

She turned away, and we followed her along the path to the back of the large building. A lot of gaps still existed in the walls, giving a strange look into the mostly empty interior.

I looked up at the towering mesa hills surrounding us, their bright colours dimmed by the low light of the Underneath. Life had only somewhat improved with the return of Xara. She was doing her best to fix up the Oasis and make it a place for the people of the Underneath to feel safe, but there was really only so much she could do. Although there were still only three main towns, lone scavengers were scattered throughout the entire world, and there wasn’t much anyone could do for them with the Underneath still…well, underneathed. 

The knowledge that I couldn’t do anything to help this forsaken world always hurt bitterly, and I tried to steer my thoughts towards less depressing things.

Romeo was working on reconstructing the roof of a half-broken building that appeared to be a minecart station. He looked surprised to see us, almost as surprised as Julia was to see him.

“I honestly completely forgot that he was still alive in this timeline.” she muttered to me. “I mean, I remember you saying it back in Essa’s damn prison, but it totally slipped my mind. What _is_ it about my timeline that leads to so many people being dead?”

Romeo had gotten down from the roof, and walked over to meet us as we approached. “Well…hello, Jess. What brings you here? And ah…who’s your fellow Prime friend?”

“This is Julia.” I said simply. “We need your help.”

“You know all the weird things that have been going on recently? Well, it’s because of them.” Xara told him. Romeo raised his eyebrows, and Julia was quick to jump in.

“No, no, wait. We’re not the ones messing stuff up. We’re trying to _fix_ the timelines.”

“You’re still meddling with them, though.” Xara said stubbornly.

Julia hesitated. “Well…we’re not _meaning_ to…”

“What do you need _our_ help with?” Romeo asked.

I sighed. “We’re looking for information. Long story short, another Prime is messing around with the timelines. One of her associates, a woman named Giselle, appears to be suspiciously _involved_ with this whole mess, and we need to find out more about her. Do you know anything?”

My last question didn’t need to be asked. As soon as I said her name, both of the former Admins tensed up, glancing at each other with nervous eyes.

Julia gestured between the two of them. “You _do_ know her.”

“Ah…yes. Yes, we do.” Romeo said slowly. “Or at least, we _did_.”

“How? Who is she? How is she involved with the timelines?” Julia asked in a rush of words.

Another significant glance passed between Xara and Romeo. “It’s kind of a long story.” Xara tiredly said.

“We need to hear it. Doesn’t matter if it’s long.” I told her staunchly. 

Romeo hesitated for a moment, then said, “Alright, I suppose it probably would be good for you to learn this. But let’s at least go inside.”

He led us into the building, which was still in a state of near deterioration. It was empty except for a few clay blocks scattered around that had probably been from the original roof. Romeo sat down on one of these blocks, and Julia and I did the same. Xara leaned against the wall beside Romeo.

“So. Where should we start?” he asked. I wasn’t sure if he was asking us or Xara, but Julia answered anyways.

“Who is Giselle?”

Xara let out a small noise that was somewhere between a cough and a laugh. “That’s the longest part of the story, kid.”

“Just…start at the beginning. Wherever that may be.” I suggested.

Romeo nodded. “The beginning it is. Well…in the beginning of this world, the first world, there was us. The Admins. But the little-known fact- actually, so little-known that it’s a secret- is that there wasn’t just three Admins. There were _six_.”

“_Six?_” Julia echoed. Xara nodded.

“Yes, six. The three you know, the two of us and Fred, were actually the youngest Admins. The others, two women and one other man, were all Admins before us, and chose to share their power for…reasons that aren’t important now.”

“Each of us had unique powers, specializing in specific things. We all could do amazing things in any field, of course, but we all had specialties.” said Romeo.

“Like how yours is building and tinkering with mobs, and Xara’s is engineering?” I guessed.

Romeo nodded again. “Exactly, though you only got mine half right.”

“The funny thing is, you two have both come in contact with all three of these other former Admins.” Xara said.

I blinked. “What?”

“We have? How?” Julia said at the same time.

“Simply through your adventures.” Romeo told us. “It’s incredible, really, how fate chose to pass you through the hands of _every_ former Admin of this world.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” Xara chastised. “I just said that as a fun little fact, not a reason to wax poetic.”

Romeo ignored her. “One of these Admins was a fantastic builder. She was amazingly creative, and could form immense structures in the blink of an eye. She was wily and cautious, and hesitant to trust. Despite this, she was an excellent ruler of her city, for a while. She created an object that supplied her people with endless resources, so they could build the same way she did.”

An uneasy feeling prickled at the back of my neck. Was he implying what I thought he was implying? This was way too familiar.

I didn’t have too long to question it before Romeo continued. “The second was an inventor, a creator of endless devices and blocks that were nearly magical on their own. He actually helped me create the Structure Block. We were rather close friends, in the beginning, especially since he also had a fondness for mobs, though he preferred learning about them to combining them. He was a very clever engineer as well, and got along with the first Admin I mentioned.”

“The third was…different. She was different right from the start.” Xara said, frowning. “She didn’t have the same tangible abilities as the rest of us. Her powers were vast and complicated, all relating to time and space. She could look into the future, see things in great detail that wouldn’t happen for centuries and centuries. Because of this, she was always fairly aloof, and very _very_ mysterious, and apparently that trait didn’t die out with the loss of her powers.”

“Wait. Wait wait _wait_.” Julia cut in. “Are you telling me…Giselle was an _Admin_?”

The two looked at each other again, and both nodded. “Yes indeed.” Romeo confirmed.

“Then…who were the other two?” Julia asked, wide-eyed.

“Isa and Soren.” I said in a low voice. It should’ve been a question, but it wasn’t.

She turned to stare at me, looking even more shocked than before, as Xara nodded again. “Clever. That’s right: Isa was the builder; Soren was the engineer.”

“But! B-but that’s impossible! Isa…she _couldn’t_ have been an Admin! She wasn’t Admin-ish at all! She…oh my god, are you telling me she _created_ the Eversource?” Julia exclaimed, glancing between Romeo and Xara.

“Oh, yes, that’s right. I forgot that’s what she called it.” Romeo said casually.

Julia looked back at me. “And how the hell did you _know?!_”

I shrugged. “It was just a guess. I already had this weird feeling about Soren, and when he described Isa as the ‘first Admin’, it just kinda…all clicked. But…what I don’t understand yet is how they lost their powers. _Fred_ was the one who discovered whatever it was that helped him create the golden gauntlet, and not until what had to be _after_ the others were already un-Admined. So…what happened?”

“I’m getting there.” Romeo assured me. “One of the most important things to remember about the Admin powers is that they are not a beneficial thing, but a corruptive one. You gain all sorts of incredible abilities, but you begin losing who you are.”

“Your sympathy, your ability to effectively communicate, your positivity, your simple _humanity_…it all goes down the drain after an extended period of time.” Xara said, shooting Romeo a significant look.

He didn’t seem to notice, caught up in the explanation. “Unfortunately, it took too long for us to realize it back when it was all six of us. We were _all_ being corrupted by the powers, but Soren, Isa, and Giselle were much farther along. While the three of us believed we were supposed to use our abilities to be the protectors and leaders of the world, the others abused them, using our precious home as a playground for over-powered chaos. We figured out that they, especially Soren and Isa, were drunk on power, but it wasn’t until much later that we realized it was _because_ of the powers.”

“It’s not that they were going mad over power, but that the power was actually _making_ them mad.” Julia mused, a note of fear in her voice. I was sure she was thinking of her own unnatural abilities.

“Exactly.” Xara said. “But however you word it, they were losing their minds. Becoming ridiculously destructive and violent, almost more like boss monsters than people. The rest of us- Fred, Romeo, myself, _and_ Giselle -decided we had to do something. But back then, we didn’t know it was possible to remove an Admin’s powers and just release them back into the world. When you really think about it, it makes sense, but we had no way to know.”

“So we came up with the next best thing. Removing their powers…and putting them somewhere else.” Romeo said grimly. “And if you’ve figured out who the other Admins were, I’m guessing you can probably piece together where their powers went.”

Julia tipped her head to the side like a confused puppy, but didn’t say anything. Pieces were slowly spinning into place in my head, and I slowly guessed, “You wouldn’t have wanted to risk creating more Admins…so when you took their powers…you gave them to _yourselves_.”

Xara nodded. “That we did. That’s why Romeo is such a good builder, and I an engineer. We gained Isa and Soren’s powers, respectively.”

“At first, it all went as planned. Between the four of us, we overpowered Soren and Isa and managed to contain them long enough to transfer their powers to us.” Romeo continued with the story. “Isa’s went to me, Soren’s went to Xara, like she just said. But then…Giselle turned on us.”

Crossing her arms and assuming a bitter expression, Xara said, “She was just as far gone as the other two. We just didn’t realize it. She attacked us full-out. Knocked out both Soren and Isa- who probably wouldn’t have been any help anyways, might I add -threw Romeo to the side, and almost won in a flat-out power fight against Fred and me. She wanted to kill all of us, and absorb our powers; with two of us carrying twice the amount of magic, it would only make things easier. I’d _just_ gotten Soren’s powers, and I couldn’t use them well enough to put up that much of a fight…but what she didn’t notice was that, as we were fighting, I was slowly draining her powers and transferring them to Fred.”

“By the time she figured out what was going on, I had recovered, and the three of us trapped her long enough for Xara to deplete her powers completely.” said Romeo. “We knew there was no way any of them could be trusted, _especially_ not Giselle. We wiped Isa’s memory entirely, since she had previously been the most aggressive and dangerous, and magicked her entire city up above the clouds. We were planning to do something similar to Soren, but he and Giselle begged to be spared of that. They agreed that in exchange for their lives and memories, they were to vanish from our lives completely, and if they ever returned for _any_ reason, we would kill them on sight.”

“Soren, despite his madness, had also always been a coward, and he utterly vanished. I never heard of him again.” Xara put in. “But Giselle…she was always a sneaky one. I never actually _saw_ her again, but there were…events, here and there, that seemed to have her name on them. There were never enough clues to say for sure, but you never know.”

Julia pressed a hand against the side of her face, looking dazed. “Wow. Just…_wow_. I never even…that is insane. All of this, is just _insane_.”

Romeo let out a humorless laugh. “Trust me, we know.”

I shifted my position on the terracotta block. “So then…what about the timelines? What do you know about those?”

Yet another thoughtful look passed between the two former Admins. “The truth is…not very much.” Xara admitted. “With everything else, we never had much reason to be very interested in the timelines. We became aware that they existed, thanks to Giselle, and we learned a few basic things…but that’s it.”

“Giselle, on the other hand, was _obsessed_ with them. It was insane. She wanted to learn everything about what they were and how they worked, and did quite a few experiments with them. Now, obviously, I wish we had realized how dangerous it was to tamper with them, but only Fred figured out the implications of what she was doing. I remember him mentioning that he did something to fix everything if it got out of control one day, but that was after Giselle had already lost her powers, so the damage had already long been done.”

“Wait. Fred did something that could fix the timelines?” Julia asked hopefully.

I sighed. “How much do you wanna bet it’s just the missing constant _again_?”

She slouched in disappointment, and Romeo gestured to me. “Yeah, that was it. But it…if I remember right, he tapped into Giselle’s former powers and sent something forward in time that the Prime would connect with. I don’t remember the details, or even if he told them to us, but it was something like that.”

“That’s more than I remember. It was a _long_ time ago, and being trapped in a tiny, explosive cell for centuries can do things to your memory.” Xara put in. Romeo at least had the grace to wince at that.

Julia and I exchanged a look. This had all been informative, but not quite as helpful as I’d been hoping. I was just about to suggest we go when Xara leaned suddenly forward, moving out of her slouched position against the wall.

“Listen. I don’t know how deep you are in all of this, but let me tell you something. Giselle is _dangerous_. I know you’re both heroes and can take care of yourselves, but I’m serious. You _cannot_ trust her. And if you know of someone who is trusting her, then, well, it’s one of two things. Either they absolutely cannot be trusted, at any costs…or they’re on the brink of being betrayed.”

“She’s right.” Romeo added. “We were too blind to realize it the first time around, but we know now. Giselle. Is. Dangerous. I’d suggest you do all you can to avoid her. You’re in enough trouble as is.”

Another glance passed between Julia and I, this one a slice more anxious than before. It suddenly occurred to me…what _would_ happen if Giselle double-crossed Essa? Would she dare? Essa was a pretty deadly character herself…but with all this new information in mind, I was no longer so sure that she was the one in charge.

“Thanks for the heads-up.” Julia said quietly. Judging by her stiff posture and the anxiety-tinged tone of her voice, the whole conversation wasn’t sitting well with her.

I hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Do you think…with what you know about the timelines and what’s been going on, do you think we have a chance of fixing everything?”

Xara’s jaw tightened, and she didn’t say anything. Romeo, however, waved a hand in a dismissive motion. “Of course you do. You defeated _me,_ after all. And you two are Primum Movens- there’s very little you _can’t_ do when it comes to the timelines.”

This wasn’t overly comforting, considering who it was coming from, but I relaxed slightly nonetheless. He was right; I’d already been through a lot in my years of hero-ing. Surely defeating Essa couldn’t be harder than anything else?

I stood up. “We should probably go back to Beacontown, and fill the others in on what we found out. _Again_. After that, we’ll find the other Primes and continue our search for the missing constant.”

“Right.” Julia sighed.

With Xara leading the way, we headed towards the square building that housed the portal to the Overworld.

“Good luck with the timelines.” Xara told us, gesturing to the portal. “I don’t want to even think about what might happen if you fail.”

“So no pressure, basically.” Julia grumbled.

I set my diamond sword in the item frame beside the portal, hoping it would be enough to transport us to the Order Hall. The portal swirled to life, the frame filling with mixed colours in shades of blue, pink, gold, and everything in-between, all shot through with glimmers of silver. Not wanting to waste any more time than necessary, I jumped through the portal.

I was sent spinning through every colour imaginable, feeling like I was falling through the thin web of reality. I briefly wondered if it would be possible to use this portal to travel to other timelines, but didn’t have more than a few moments to really think about it before I was landing with a solid _thud_ on the crimson-carpeted floor of the treasure hall.

I groaned, barely rolling out of the way in time to avoid being squashed by Julia as she landed as well. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, glaring around disagreeably. “As far as magic transportation goes, that is _not_ my favorite.”

I stood, then reached out a hand to help her up. “I agree. But hey, at least we’re here.”

A quick glance out the largest window told me that it was midday, probably only an hour or so after noon. Based on the intense quiet and the lack of reaction to our arrival, the Hall was empty, which meant Lukas and Radar were somewhere out in the chaos of Beacontown. “We should find the others; tell them what-all happened.”

Julia nodded hesitantly. “About that…is it okay if I don’t? I…kinda want to be alone for a little bit.”

“Sure, no problem.” I replied immediately. I didn’t have to ask why.

“Thanks. I just need a little bit to think, and I’ll be fine.” She said with a tight-lipped smile.

We split ways, her going upstairs to her temporary room, and me heading out to the town. I had no idea where Radar or Lukas would be, or where to even start looking.

I tried to think of some of the things Radar might be taking care of, but I came up empty. I never seemed to have the ability to remember all the things that went on in this town.

Luckily, my search was stopped almost before it began. I’d just passed the large stained-glass amulet when I saw Nell standing outside her house, talking to Radar.

I hurried over. “Hey, Nell! Hate to be rude, but can I steal Radar for a moment?”

“Jesse, dude! Good to see ya. And it’s no problem, brah. I’ll seeya around, yeah?” she said, directing the last bit at Radar.

“Yeah, of course.” He replied with a small smile that only partially hid his disappointment.

I gave him a mischievous side-eyed look as we walked away. I’d always suspected that he’d had a bit of a crush on Nell, even though he’d gone to great lengths to deny it.

“Did you find Ivor? What happened?” He asked.

I shook my head absent-mindedly. “I’ll get to that. Where’s Lukas?”

Radar adjusted his glasses. “Uh…I _think_ he and Aiden were going over to Jack’s shop, though I can’t remember why. Lukas was looking for…something or other. I can’t remember.”

“Got other things on your mind?” I asked through an impish grin. “Like…a certain energetic surfer girl?”

He flushed pink. “No! What! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Riiiiight.” I said, in the obnoxious tone of voice I’d cultivated from years of making fun of my other friends. He turned his head away, stubbornly refusing to look at me.

His silence persisted as we headed towards Bad Luck Alley, which honestly only validated my point. Jack’s shop was on the far end of the street, and as we approached the vaguely ship-shaped building, the door opened and two familiar people stepped out.

I shifted into a run, calling Lukas’s name. He glanced over immediately, and grinned when he saw it was me.

“There you are! I was wondering when you’d get back.” Lukas said as I came to a halt in front of them. “I’m glad you found us.”

“Lukas was looking for a map of someplace he wants to set a story, the _nerd_.” Aiden told us, though the words were affectionate.

Lukas rolled his eyes. “Oh, like _I’m_ the nerd of this relationship.”

“I think you are.” I put in, at the same time that Aiden said, “Sorry, dear, but you are. It’s indisputable.” 

Lukas gently elbowed him, and Aiden leaned over to press a kiss against Lukas’s forehead. 

“Cut the PDA, you two. There are children here.” I said, indicating Radar with a nod of my head.

Lukas laughed unashamedly. It took a moment for Radar to absorb what I’d said, sputtering angrily as it finally sank in.

“Hey! _Not_ funny, Jess.” he snapped, crossing his arms. “And for the record, I’m eighteen.” 

“They grow up so fast.” Aiden remarked, earning a disgruntled huff from Radar.

“So, what happened?” Lukas asked me.

I sighed, reaching up to run a hand through my hair. “Hooo. A lot.”

The four of us stood in the shade of Jack’s shop, on the grassy area along the side of the building where we weren’t too obvious to passers-by. I briefly explained what had happened since Julia and I had left that morning; how we’d found Ivor, what he’d had to say about our whole quest, and the whole thing with the Admins.

Some extra explanation was required for Aiden’s benefit, since he didn’t know as much about the Admins in general, but Lukas and Radar were equally in awe as I recounted the secret history of the three forgotten Admins.

At first, Lukas flat-out refused to believe that Soren was an Admin, proclaiming that I’d made the whole thing up to mess with him. Radar accepted it a bit quicker, saying that even if it _was_ a little insane, it also made a twisted kind of sense.

Aiden was quick to voice his suspicions about Giselle and Essa’s alliance. “I mean, does Essa know all this? About what Giselle tried to do to the other Admins? And if so, why is she trusting her? This whole thing just feels _way_ too fishy to me.” 

“I don’t know. Giselle seemed like she was part of Essa’s inner circle, so how could she _not_ know her past? But at the same time…” I mused.

Lukas was grumbling something under his breath. “What?” Radar prompted, but he shook his head.

“Lukas, _what_? We’re brainstorming here. If you have theories, share them.” I ordered.

He sighed, crossing his arms. “I’m just…this is interesting and all, but it’s not _getting_ us anywhere. We’re still no closer to finding out the missing constant.”

“Well, we are a _little_ closer.” Radar said. “We know that it’s something that Fred sent forward in time, and something that’s linked directly to the Primes.”

“But that could be anything!” Lukas snapped. “Like, literally _any_ object that any of the Primes have ever used! Like the amulet, or the sword that broke the Command Block, or even the fucking flint and steel! That doesn’t help us at _all_!”

Aiden pointed at him, looking thoughtful. “Wait, _could_ it be the amulet? That seems significant enough, right?” Lukas gave him a weird look, and he shrugged. “Look, I don’t know. It’s just an idea. I kinda got the sense that it was something that was important to the Primes’ lives, not just an object they interacted with.”

“Yeah, I thought that too. But it still doesn’t tell us _what_ this thing is.” I said.

“Well, you tell us, Jess. What physical objects have had the most significance in your adventures?” asked Radar.

“I don’t know.” I said quietly. “The Command Block sword seems like a good idea, but it broke all the way back in the Old Builder’s Games. The flint-and-steel _would_ make sense, but I don’t know if it fully matches up, since it was so important to the Old Builders and all. Maybe…”

It hit me like a lightning bolt. My words dropped off and I stepped backwards, feeling like I’d been physically struck. The answer pounded in my mind, horrible puzzle pieces snapping together to create a final picture I never wanted to see.

“Boss? Are you okay?” Radar asked. I hardly heard him.

“Jess? What happened?” I was dimly aware of Aiden asking. I raised a hand to my face, covering my open mouth.

“Oh god. T-The missing constant…we were right; it was Essa’s all along. Oh _god_.” I murmured.

Radar straightened up from his slouched position against the side of the building. “Wait, you figured it out? That’s great!” he exclaimed. I shook my head slowly, still trying to drag myself out of my realm of shock.

“It…it _is_ great, right? Jess?” Lukas asked.

“No. I mean, yes, it’s good I know the constant, but…”

“What is it? You mentioned it was in Essa’s timeline, but hers is so whacked, how did you know? What do we need to fix?” Radar rambled.

It took me several moments more before I could speak. “Reuben. The missing constant is Reuben.” 


	28. Now or Never

“What’s the plan?” 

Julia hesitated, seeming caught off-guard that Jo had agreed so quickly. “Plan. Yes. That. Um….”

Jo crossed her arms, looking amused. “You guys don’t actually have a plan yet, do you?”

“We wanted to wait until all four of us were together, so you guys could help. Julia and I are prone to making pretty stupid decisions on our own.” I explained.

“Essa currently isn’t in her own timeline.” Julia added. “She’s in the newest one, probably messing with things and creating more deviations. We need to draw her out somehow.”

“But…” Jacek started, voice quavering ever so slightly. “We need to kill her Reuben. Is he in that timeline with her?”

I shook my head. “No. He’s still in her timeline. But I don’t think we can just go in there and kill him- we’ve been in her fortress, and we know that it’s fairly well-guarded and impossible to navigate. There’s almost no chance of us being able to sneak in.”

“Plus, she’s probably hidden Reuben somewhere. From what I’ve heard about her, she seems really careful, so if she knows that Reuben is the missing constant, we can assume she’s done something to protect him.” Jo put in.

Julia gestured to her. “Right! I didn’t even think about that. That’s exactly why we needed you two.”

Pressing his hand against his chin, Jacek thoughtfully said, “So we’re hinging on the idea that we’ll need Essa to get to Reuben. Could we go into the new timeline and just…threaten her a lot?”

“No. We can’t go into that timeline, especially not with her in it. Us Primes hold a lot of power over the timelines; it wouldn’t be a good idea to have _all_ of us in one. It’d throw things off even more.” I said. “Not to mention that we don’t know where Essa is. She could be _anywhere_ in that timeline.”

“Well…hm. How far along is this newest timeline?” Jo asked contemplatively.

I paused, thinking. “I don’t know for sure, but I think it should be right at the beginning of the whole Witherstorm mess. Why?”

Jo didn’t say anything, but Jacek’s head snapped up to look at her. “You don’t think…?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. I mean, it seems right. _If_ we’re thinking the same thing here.”

“Wait, what?” Julia asked.

Jacek glanced over at her. “Well, think about it. If Essa is in the new timeline, right as the Prime’s whole adventure is starting…could she manipulate it so that she’s _part of_ the quest? I’m just saying, that’s what _I’d_ do if I was trying to screw up reality. If she gets the new Prime to trust her, she could manipulate them throughout the whole adventure, steering them towards making one decision over another.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too.” Jo nodded.

Julia pressed a hand against her forehead. “_Dammit_. Of course she’d do that.”

“So we’ve gotta stop her before she wrecks it too badly. The only question now is _how_.” Jo put in. “We need to lure her into the In-Between, contain her, and somehow force her to bring her Reuben to us.”

Her voice became increasingly despondent as she continued, clearly not believing that we’d be able to pull something like that off. I shot a glance at Julia.

“Actually…I think we may have more of an advantage than you two think.” I said pointedly, still giving Julia a significant look. 

She shifted her stance, looking uncomfortable. “I…wasn’t planning on telling them that.” she muttered.

I crossed my arms. “Well, either _you_ tell them, or I will.”

“Tell us what?” Jacek asked, a hint of distrust leaking into his voice.

Julia sighed begrudgingly, glaring at me out of the corner of her eyes. “Fine, fine. This is gonna sound bizarre, but I have…ugh, I guess I have to call them _magic powers_. I can’t tell either of you where they came from-” she added quickly, seeing Jo’s expression lighten into a curious, about-to-ask-questions face. “but I should be able to, at the very least, trap her when we get her into the In-Between.”

Jacek’s expression was pure suspicion, but Jo seemed interested. “Ooooh. What can you do? How long have you had them? Will one of _us_ get powers too? Where did they…wait, oops.”

Another sigh from Julia. “I can _mostly_ just build and destroy stuff, but I also have the ability to levitate and move things around. I can _probably_ transform mobs as well, but I haven’t tried and don’t want to.” she summarized halfheartedly.

“Also, Essa is kind of afraid of Julia, so that in itself is an advantage.” I added. “So we have steps two and three figured out…but we still don’t know how to get her to the In-Between.”

“Maybe…just one of us could go in and talk to her?” Jacek suggested. “I’m not sure what we would say to make her go with us, though.”

Julia snapped her fingers and pointed at me. “That’s actually not a bad idea. You or I could go in and pretend like we want to accept her alliance deal. Preferably you, since I kind of threatened her when we saw her last, and she seems to like you more.”

I hesitated. “I don’t know. I think she’d be too smart for that. And besides, if we went into that timeline, we’d run the risk of someone else seeing us. If she’s with the Prime or that timeline’s version of Petra or Olivia or Lukas or anyone else, we wouldn’t be able to talk freely. Plus, there’s the we-don’t-know-exactly-where-she-is problem, and the whole appearing-out-of-thin air thing if we were to go in.”

Jacek and Julia glanced at each other with matching expressions of distress. “Then what are we supposed to do?” Jace asked.

Jo didn’t seem to share their defeatist attitude. She tapped a finger against her chin, frowning contemplatively. “Well, we could wait, and talk to her some time when she’s separated from the others. There _were_ a few times during the Witherstorm quest that the group split up.”

“Sure, but how would we know?” Julia pointed out. Jo nodded in acknowledgement and said, “By watching the gate. Little flashes of the Prime’s adventures can be seen in the gates, and if you watch long enough, they become more detailed and chronological. We could use that.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “How the hell do you know that? You’d never been to the In-Between before.”

Jo’s grey-brown eyes widened, and her face fell into a guilty expression. “Uh…I, um…”

Julia crossed her arms sternly. “Wait, did you follow us? When we left your timeline?”

“No! Not, uh…not exactly?” Jo said awkwardly. “I just…I paid attention to the symbols you drew to open the gate, and a couple days after you left, I just got too curious, and I…made a gate myself, and checked out the In-Between. I didn’t go to any other timelines, and I didn’t mess with anything, I swear!”

Julia sighed yet again, but Jo wasn’t done yet. “But listen; I found something else out when I was there. I was watching Essa’s timeline, trying to see if I could find out anything else about her, and I realized that I could kind of…I don’t know, _sense_ her? Like, I could just sorta feel her presence in that timeline. She was somewhere in Beacontown, and she was really happy about something. It’s hard to explain _how_ I knew that, but I did.”

“Wait, okay, _what_?” Jacek asked, alarmed. “Are you talking about _telepathy?”_

Jo shook her head. “No, not quite. It was just that when I was near her gate, focusing on it, I just…got some sort of intuition about her, I guess. I don’t know how else to describe it. It was kinda freaky.”

“Huh. That’s…pretty weird.” Julia murmured thoughtfully.

“And here’s another thing. I tried doing the same thing with Jess’s gate, trying to just sort of _feel_ where he was or what was going on, but I couldn’t find him. Him _or_ you, actually.” Jo said to her.

I nodded towards Julia. “That must’ve been when Essa trapped us in that weird ‘control’ timeline. She’d gone back to her own dimension and was all smug about trapping us there. It fits, in a weird way.”

Jace shuddered. “This is all too creepy.”

“Yeah, but we might be able to use it.” Jo argued.

“Doesn’t make it less creepy.” Jacek returned, and she shrugged. 

Julia was scowling, and began pacing. “You’re right, Jo. I think…this could be helpful. If we can figure out where she is and what’s going on, maybe I can use my Ad- uh…_powers_ to like, send her a message or something.”

“Then when she comes to the In-Between, you can trap her, and the rest of us will talk her down and get her to tell us where Reuben is, or something like that.” I said slowly. It was hardly a foolproof plan, but we didn’t have a lot of time.

“Right. We should go now, then.” Julia said, seeming like she’d heard my thoughts.

“Now?” Jacek echoed, sounding alarmed.

Julia nodded. “There’s no time to work out all the details. If anything goes wrong, we’ll improvise. You can manage that, right?”

Jacek smiled, a little arrogantly. “I’m the _king_ of improvising.”

“Wait.” Jo said in a small voice as Julia pulled her diamond sword from her inventory. “If this works…who’s actually going to…to…oh, you know. Kill Reuben.”

Julia and I looked at each other for a moment. I let out a long, difficult breath. “I can do it. It won’t be easy, but I’ll manage. If we have the fate of all reality on our hands, I think I can handle facing some past demons.”

“I’ll help.” Jacek offered. His green eyes were nervous but sympathetic. “It’ll be easier with two of us.”

Julia exhaled shakily. “Okay, good. Thanks. I don’t think I’d be able to manage it, so I hope you two can.”

“We will.” I said. “Now let’s get to the In-Between, and pray to god that Essa doesn’t manage to outsmart all four of us.”

Julia lifted her sword and traced the exit symbols in the air. I noticed Jo watching her intently, probably committing the white designs to memory.

With a downward slash of the diamond blade, the brilliant white gate was opened. Julia waved her hand towards the shimmering abyss. “After you.”

I wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but Jo took it upon herself to go first. Jace followed, and I went right behind him. Somehow, the perfect void of white seemed different than all the times before. It felt…it felt like if you could touch static. A strange uncomfortableness, almost like an itch, but not, swept over me as I stepped out into the In-Between.

I hadn’t taken the time to really look at the place when Jacek and I had come through earlier, but now it was impossible to notice. The sky had darkened to a horrible reddish-grey, streaked with brighter touches of crimson like splashes of blood. The odd lumps of the ground beyond the ring of gates had worsened, becoming disfigured spires in a range of dark greys.

I took a step forward, and my horror only mounted as my foot sank a few centimeters into the ground. The blocks below my feet were shot through with cracks, widening ever so slightly as I moved. I could see nothing but shadows in the larger cracks, so there didn’t appear to be anything to fall into, but it was still discomforting.

“It didn’t look like this when I was here before.” Jo commented in a low voice, just as Julia came through behind me.

I shook my head absent-mindedly. “It’s gotten a lot worse. We need to fix this as soon as possible, before this whole place falls apart.”

“Literally.” Jace added, scuffing the toe of his boot against he cracked ground.

Julia wasted no time in walking over to the gate to the newest timeline. The rest of us followed, looking at the gate curiously.

Sure enough, I saw a few flashes of colour, little images showing us that Prime’s adventure so far. This one appeared to be a pale boy with fluffy auburn hair and kind, innocent teal eyes. My heart went out to him immediately. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.

The images were too swift and faded for me to see much, but I caught a glimpse of him following Petra through a cave, talking to Ivor, and walking with Axel and Olivia towards the building competition.

“They’re out of order.” Jacek commented gruffly.

“Wait. They’ll even out.” Jo told him.

Julia suddenly pointed at the gate. “There! Did you see that? That was _Essa_ he was talking to!”

“Oh, no. Looks like we were right.” Jo said nervously.

As I watched for longer, I noticed that the scrambled images _did_ start making more sense. It was like skipping through a film, only looking at each scene for a few seconds. I watched him running through EnderCon, then it jumped to the Wither forming.

It was downright surreal to see someone else going through the same experiences that I remembered from seven years ago. Gabriel’s temple. The Nether. Lukas and Axel arguing in the treehouse.

The only difference was, Essa was among the group the entire way.

I glanced away, pressing a hand against my forehead. The flashing images were making me dizzy, and I didn’t like having to watch things get worse and worse for us by the second.

Julia, who was still looking intently at the gate, said, “It looks like the Prime and Axel are heading to Boomtown. Which means that the others, including Essa, are still at the old Order’s temple. That poor kid. He has no idea who she is.”

“Jasper.” Jo said softly. The rest of us looked at her. “What?” I asked.

“Jasper. That’s the Prime’s name. Don’t…I’m not even sure how I know that, so don’t ask.” she told us.

Jacek was frowning. “I went to Redstonia, not Boomtown. If this timeline stems from mine, why is it different?”

“I’ll bet you anything it was Essa who told him to go there.” I said. “This is exactly what you guys were talking about earlier. He trusts her, so she’s able to manipulate his decisions without actually seeming like she’s manipulating him.”

“Everyone stand back. I’m going to try the thing.” Julia ordered. We did as she told, watching her cautiously.

None of us spoke as she shut her eyes and reached forward, so her fingers were brushing the chasm of white. She rose up slightly above the ground, her hair blown back by a breeze none of us could feel.

Jo was watching in pure awe. “How…?”

I shook my head slowly. “You already know we can’t tell you that.”

Several moments passed, before Julia settled on the ground again and opened her eyes. To my relief, they were her normal brown instead of Admin-red.

“Well?” Jace asked.

Julia gave him a confident look, though her eyes held a tinge of grim uncertainty. “It worked. Now, all we have to do is wait.”


	29. The Worst Solution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what the hell happened but it looks like i drafted this chapter and then didn't post it????? wtf  
anyways here it is now??? ugh this site is confusing :/

_Reuben._

Beacontown faded to a colourful blur as I raced back to the Order Hall. It felt like I’d been tossed into a two-dimensional world, with no space to breathe. My heart pounded mercilessly in my chest, feeling almost like it was trying to break free of my ribs and escape to a world where this wasn’t real.

This wasn’t real.

This couldn’t be real.

But it made too much sense. Fred had sent something forward in time that the Prime- me, in this case -would connect with. No one had actually said it had to be an object, we’d all just guessed that.

And what had I connected with more than Reuben? He’d been my loyal pet, and my closest friend.

And now I was going to have to kill him.

I threw open the doors of the Hall, not bothering to close them behind me as I hurried up the stairs. I called Julia’s name, but there was no answer.

The bedroom at the far end of the hall was usually empty, reserved for any travelling friends that didn’t have another place to stay. That was where Julia had been staying in the time she’d been here, and I didn’t hesitate to go inside.

She was sitting on the orange bed, looking silently out the window with an expression of detached despondency. The door creaked loudly when I entered, but she didn’t look up.

“Julia?” I asked. Her shoulders tensed slightly, but she didn’t make any other movement.

“Julia. Come on, I know you can hear me, just listen.” I ordered. When she still didn’t acknowledge my presence, I sighed. “Julia, I know how to fix it.”

She finally lifted her head to look at me, her expression laced with confusion. “You…what?”

“The timelines. I know how to fix them. I know how to put everything back to normal; I figured out whose timeline is the problem. I know Fred’s failsafe.” I rambled.

“Who? What do we do?” She asked, starting to get to her feet.

“Essa. In all of our timelines, there’s only _one_ thing that’s been entirely consistent. Yours, mine, Jacek’s, Jo’s…all of them except Essa’s.”

“What is it?” she asked quietly. I could practically see the complicated gears of her brain turning as she tried to puzzle out the difference.

I inhaled deeply, trying to prepare myself to say the words aloud. “Reuben. He’s still alive in her timeline. Lukas fell, and Reuben survived. _He’s_ the variable we need to remove.” My voice cracked on the last sentence, broken by the tightening of my throat.

It’s impossible to describe Julia’s expression at that moment. All the colour drained from her face, and she stared beyond me, beyond anything, as she realized what had to be done. “No. That’s…oh no.”

“It’s the only constant. We’ve been looking in all the wrong places, following all the wrong leads. That’s why it took us so long to figure it out. We were looking for something that was absent, not something that was still there. But the whole time...”

Julia pressed a hand to her forehead. “Oh god, no. This can’t be right. Not _Reuben_.” 

“It is.” I whispered. “He’s the problem. He’s…he’s the thing we need to…need to remove.”

“We have to kill him.” Her voice was barely loud enough to hear. “We have to _kill_ Reuben. Watch him die all over again, but this time it’ll be _us_…”

I didn’t say anything to this. She was right. 

“Jess, how are we supposed to…” she trailed off again.

I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know. I just…I don’t know.”

“How are we even supposed to do this? I…even to save our known universe, I don’t think…”

I jumped in with a new thought, to avoid that one. “And get this: I think I know what Essa’s planning to do, too.”

Julia figured it out before I could even say the words. “She’s in the new timeline…she’s going to save Reuben. So there’ll be another one where he’s alive, pushing the universe even more out of balance. Oh my _god_.”

“So we’re in a bit of a time crunch.” I added.

She touched a hand to her forehead. “Shit, I’d say so. We don’t have a way to know how far along the new one is, and Essa does. If we don’t stop her before the Prime of that timeline goes into the final battle with the Witherstorm…”

Julia leapt to her feet. “We need to act _now_. We’ve gotta find Jacek and Jo, and form a plan to stop Essa. Ivor said it was risky to have multiple Primes working together, but I think we’ll be stronger as a team.”

A door slammed from downstairs, and I heard the indistinct voices of Lukas and Radar.

“Jess? Are you here?” Radar called.

Julia brushed past me, heading back out of the room. “Yeah, we’re here.” She returned, walking purposefully towards the stairs. I followed hesitantly.

Lukas, Aiden, and Radar were waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. They all looked worried, which I suppose was justified, considering that I’d just bolted off with no explanation.

“Are you alright?” Lukas asked me. I hesitated.

“I don’t know. We have to do this. But…”

“But you’re not sure if you’re okay with it.” Lukas guessed, and I nodded.

“Somehow, I didn’t think that dealing with the missing constant would be this hard. It was difficult enough to find it out, but now that I know that we…what we have to do…”

I trailed off uncertainly, feeling my chest constrict. My eyes stung with building-up tears, but I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. 

Aiden rubbed his chin thoughtfully, frowning. “Do you think you’re actually going to be able to do this? Even if the fate of our entire world is at stake, are you physically going to be able to-”

“Don’t say it.” I interrupted, wrapping my arms around myself and looking at the ground. “Don’t.”

“One of us will do it.” Julia put in. “It’ll be hard, and heartbreaking, but we will. There’s no other way.”

“Are we sure? Maybe there _is_ another way to fix everything, and we just haven’t found it yet.” Radar said, though his tone didn’t match his should-be hopeful words.

I shook my head. “I really doubt that, Radar. Everything we’ve found so far…it all seems to point to removing the missing constant being the only way.”

_Removing Reuben is the only way._

I wasn’t fully sure why the idea hurt so much. My Reuben had already been dead for seven years. He’d died a hero, and even though thinking of his death still made me sad, I’d accepted that he was gone. 

But maybe that’s _why_ it hurt so much. He may be gone for me, but he still existed somewhere. He’d been given another chance at life, and it was going to be _me_ that had to take it away from him. And even if it wasn’t actually me, I would still be there.

“How are you even gonna do this? I doubt Essa’s just going to sit there while you murder her pet and ruin her schemes.” Aiden said.

“Aiden, be nice.” Lukas chided.

Julia shook her head. “No, he has a point. We need to make a plan. And in order to do that…I think we’re gonna need some help.”

\-----

The brilliant white faded gradually away, and I stepped out the other side of the gate, glancing quickly around to make sure no one saw me. Luck was on my side- the back alley was empty, just like I’d been hoping.

I carefully headed out to the main part of town, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. It didn’t look like Romeo had returned, but I kept my guard up anyways. I felt a vague uncomfortable instinct that I didn’t belong here, some deep-rooted feeling telling me to return to my own reality.

Julia and I had decided to divide and conquer- she was going into Jo’s timeline to find her, and I was collecting Jacek. If all went well, we’d meet back in the treasure hall of my timeline.

I still didn’t know why Jacek’s timeline was paused. What had happened differently that prevented Romeo from returning to Beacontown? Could Essa and her plans be involved somehow? Logic said they probably were…but it was hard to say for sure.

I tried to shake off my paranoia as I walked along the center street, being mostly ignored by all the other people out and about. I wasn’t sure where Jacek might be, but I headed indirectly towards the gates, keeping an eye out for the brown-skinned man.

Approaching the partially smashed buildings near the front of town, I wondered how much time had passed since we’d been here. It didn’t look like repairs on the places the Admin had wrecked were completed yet, so it couldn’t have been _that_ long.

I paused under the bridge that spanned the main street, looking casually around. It was somewhat jarring to see empty space where Romeo’s tower was in my Beacontown, and I turned away, instead carefully studying the people I could see. I knew it may be a long shot that Jacek would be somewhere within my range of sight, but that didn’t stop me from hoping.

It was somewhat disconcerting to pass as just another Beacontown citizen. In my own hometown, everyone knew me, even if by no more than name and appearance. Looking around, I could see all sorts of people, many of whom seemed _almost_ like those I knew, but not quite. It was bizarre, to say the least.

My eyes settled on a small grassy corner just inside the wall. The miniature park was right by the main gate, shaded by a pair of oak trees and the towering wall. Two people were standing near it, appearing to be deep in a serious conversation. One was a tall blond man in a black jacket; the other was a short brown-skinned man with dark hair pulled into a ponytail.

Lukas and Jacek.

I hurried over to them, though they didn’t seem to notice me at first.

“I’m telling you; this isn’t right. The Admin is _not_ gone- I don’t know what’s going on, but that wasn’t the end of it. It couldn’t be.” Jacek was saying. He was no longer wearing the violet-hued armour, instead standing simply in a white button-down shirt, faded blue jeans, and dark blue suspenders.

Lukas reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Jace, listen to me. You’ve been through a lot these past few years; you’re just getting paranoid. If you-”

“No, _you_ listen to _me_!” Jacek snapped, gesturing dramatically with his right hand. “If I’d _really_ defeated the Admin, why do I still have the gauntlet? And why was it so easy?”

“You call that _easy_?” Lukas asked gently. “He nearly killed you, multiple times, and he smashed up Beacontown. If he was still alive, wouldn’t he have returned to finish the job?”

Jacek huffed. “I don’t know. This just doesn’t feel right.”

He glanced up then, and noticed me. His bitter expression transformed into one of surprise as he registered who he was seeing.

This version of Lukas gave me a curious look as I approached them. “Hey, Jacek. Can I, uh…can I borrow you for a moment?”

“Yeah…no problem.” He replied cautiously, obviously wondering what I was doing back. Lukas cleared his throat softly, and Jacek stiffened. “Oh, right! Lukas, this is Jess, he’s a…new friend. Jess, this is my fiancé, Lukas.” 

I tried not to let my surprise show on my expression as Lukas extended a hand to me. Sure enough, I noticed that he wore a simple engagement ring.  
“Nice to meet you.” he said with a light smile.

“Likewise.” I said quietly, accepting the handshake. He seemed so much like the Lukas I knew…but _different_, at the same time. I suddenly understood what Julia had meant when she’d told me how strange it was to have to re-introduce herself to my versions of Lukas and Radar. 

“So what’s going on, Jess?” Jacek asked.

I glanced between him and Lukas, somewhat nervously. “Uh…remember how Julia and I said we’d be back if we needed your help with…that thing? Well, we do.”

Jace nodded somberly, and Lukas let out a small laugh. “Julia? What are you guys, the J squad?”

Jacek frowned slightly. “Something like that. We can head over to the Order Hall while you tell me the details, Jess.” he said simply. “Lukas, I’ll catch up with you later. I should take care of this.”

“Alright. Good luck.” Lukas said. Jacek leaned up to tap a quick kiss against Lukas’s cheek, then turned back to me.

We started towards the large glass and quartz building, and Jace remarked, “So, I’m guessing you and the Lukas of your dimension aren’t…quite as _close _as me and mine?”

I laughed, a little awkwardly. “Nooo way. I’m aromantic, and he’s with someone else. We’re close, but completely platonically.”

“Huh. I wonder why things are different for me.” He mused quietly, then shrugged. “But I suppose that’s not what’s important right now. What happened? Did you guys find your missing constant?”

I sighed. “_So much_ happened, and yes, we did. But we should hold off on the explanations for a little bit. We need to get to my timeline- Julia and Jo will meet us there, and we’ll tell you everything.”

“Alright, then.” Jace agreed patiently. He was quiet for another few moments before asking, “You said that, in your timeline, you defeated the Admin for real, right? You’re not still stuck with _this_ thing? Well, obviously you’re not, but…you know what I mean.”

He lifted the hand that was incased in the gauntlet, wiggling his fingers. I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He was already suspecting that the Admin wasn’t gone for good, I couldn’t hurt things _too_ badly by confirming his hunch. “Yeah. He came back, in a completely different form. But the weird thing is…it should’ve already happened.”

“What?” Jacek asked, blinking in confusion.

“He came back only a few _hours_ after I’d ‘defeated’ him, but here, it’s already been…” I trailed off. “How long _has_ it been?”

Jace paused, counting on his fingers. “Five days, six if you include this one.”

“Wait, so does that mean…? It’s only been like two, three days since we were here before?” I checked.

He nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.”

I ran my hand through my hair, trying to make sense of it. It should’ve been much, _much_ longer than that. I guess time was being even screwier than I’d originally thought.

“Goddamnit. We gotta fix this _fast_.” I muttered, quickening my pace. Jacek hurried to keep up with me.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“It should’ve been much longer than just two or three days, Jace. I don’t know exactly how much longer, but I’d bet a week at _least._ This timeline is _way_ behind, which is a whole bucketa terrible. I knew time was getting a little _off_, but this is really major. We need to get a move on. There’s no one else in the Order Hall, right?” I asked.

“Uh…there shouldn’t be.” He said distantly, still seeming a little caught up on what I’d said about time.

We entered the Hall, and I led the way into the treasure room. Like with my own version of the building, that was the room with the highest ceiling, which made it the best place to open a gate. I didn’t waste any time in beginning to trace the exit symbols in the air.

Jace was acting very excited. He bounced up on the tips of his toes, making his ponytail swish as he came back down. The motion was mildly distracting, and I had half a mind to tell him to stop, but he seemed so eager to be travelling to another dimension that I didn’t quite have the heart to.

I slashed the sword through the symbols I’d drawn, and the gate appeared in all its glowing white glory. I motioned for him to go through. “Come on. We can’t waste any more time.”

Taking in a deep breath, Jacek stepped forward and walked into the gate. I followed right behind, not batting an eye as the perfect pure white swirled around me. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that I was so accustomed to travelling through dimensions now, but it was a thing either way.

I stepped out into the In-Between, having to gently push Jace aside as he stood frozen, staring around at the new sights. “What…what the hell is this place?” he breathed.

“This is what Julia and I call the In-Between. Think of it as a crossroads, or a minecart station, but for dimensions.” I explained briefly. “It used to look a lot different, but I think that between Essa’s meddling and our timeline jumping, it’s gotten a little…corrupted, I guess?”

He nodded slowly. “Wait. Who’s Essa?”

“Oh, right. I didn’t explain her, did I?” I realized. “Well, she’s another Prime. But unlike the rest of us, whose timelines are more or less the same, with smallish differences, hers is _insanely_ different. It’s pretty whacked. Long story short, a lot of her friends died, and she’s using the timelines to try to turn back time to save them. It’s…more complicated than that, but I honestly don’t have the capacity to explain it all right now. The point is, she’s evil, and we need to stop her.”

“There’s just no escape from dealing with mad villains, is there?” Jace asked with a trace of humour in his voice.

I sighed. “Yeah, there really isn’t. Even when I thought I’d gotten out, they still managed to find me.” I said in an undertone.

“What?” Jace asked, not fully hearing my grim muttering.

I shook my head. “Nothing. Let’s go.”

He looked around at the other gates again. “Which one is yours? Wait, hey, why is that one so much dimmer? Is…whoa, is there MORE timelines up there?” 

I hesitated, my brain scrambling to answer each of his questions. “The gate right here leads to my timeline; that gate is dimmer and smaller because it’s a newer timeline that isn’t nearly as far along as the rest of ours; and yes, I _think_ so, though I haven’t had the chance to investigate.”

“Whooaaaa.” He murmured, still gazing up at the second circle of timelines. I grabbed his sleeve, tugging him towards my gate. “Let’s _go_. I swear Julia and I will do our best to answer all your questions later.”

Hoping he would follow, I stepped into the white abyss, clearly picturing the large entryway of the Order Hall. Colours and shapes started to fade into view around me, mimicking the image I’d formed in my mind.

I could hear a young-ish female voice coming from the direction of the treasure hall, asking questions about a variety of things. She was answered in short, one-to-three-word sentences by another woman, which I took to mean that Jo and Julia had beat us here.

Jacek appeared beside me, glancing around. “Whoa. This is trippy. It _looks_ like my Order Hall, but doesn’t _feel_ like it. That sounds pretty weird, but…”

“Nah, it’s not too weird. Believe it or not, that’s normal for going into new timelines.” I informed him.

He snorted. “Yeah, like anything about _alternate dimensions_ could ever be normal.”

We entered the treasure room to see Jo eagerly examining all the artifacts from my adventures, including the ones I know she had her own versions of. Julia looked bored, and was leaning against the bookshelves that lined one wall, but she straightened up when she saw us.

“There you two are.” she said by way of greeting. Jo whirled around, waving when she noticed me. “Jess, hey!”

“Hi again. Jo, this is Jacek. Jace, this is Jo. Don’t answer any of her questions about the future.” 

Jace and Jo shook hands and exchanged hellos while Julia walked over to join the rest of us. “Jess, you are _not_ going to believe what happened. So, you know how it’s been a couple days since we left Jo’s timeline? Well, according to her, it’s been almost THREE WHOLE WEEKS. Can you believe that? What the hell happened?!”

I nodded grimly. “Something similar happened with Jacek, except the other way around. It had only been about two to three days, where it should’ve been at least a week. This is getting bad.”

“Wait. Two days or three?” Julia asked, turning her attention to Jacek.

He shrugged guiltily, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. “I…don’t know. Time has been weird the last few days. Things drag on forever, or seem to happen in only a moment. I can’t keep track of it anymore.”

“It’s the same with my timeline.” Jo put in. “And the mob situation has gotten worse.”

Julia and I both looked at her. “Wait. What mob situation?” Julia asked.

Jo made a vague gesture with her right hand. “Mobs just…not acting normal. Completely passive mobs like chickens and sheep are suddenly being super hostile. I mean, they can’t actually hurt you, but it’s not for lack of trying. Zombies spawn in the middle of the day and don’t burn, but it doesn’t even matter because they won’t attack you even if you go right up to one and poke it with a sword. Cows have _only_ been spawning in caves. Skeletons sometimes have swords or even pickaxes, and they drop the _weirdest_ things. And pigs are still acting like pigs, which is almost the most suspicious thing of all. It’s madness.” She explained.

Julia pressed a hand against her forehead and began pacing. “Oh, this is bad. Scratch that, it’s awful. This is exactly what we _didn’t_ want to happen. Shit, shit, _shit.”_

“We…can fix this, right?” Jacek asked nervously.

I dragged in a deep breath. “Yes, we can. Like we already told both of you when you first met us, there’s something called a missing constant. It’s a…thing that’s in only _one_ timeline, while in the others it’s already gone. If we remove this thing, the timelines will straighten out again, and things will go back to normal. Since we told you about this, we’ve found out a lot more about it, including some solid proof that this _is_ the way to fix everything.”

Jo was looking at me suspiciously as I said this. “I thought…when you told me about this, I thought it was the other way around. That the missing constant was in every timeline _except_ one.”

“Well…that’s true too. It depends on how you word it.” I said carefully.

“So? What is it?” Jacek asked eagerly.

Julia and I looked at each other for a moment. “It’s Reuben.” she blurted out.

Jo froze, and Jacek took a small step back. “What?” he asked.

“In all four of our timelines, he’s gone. He’s been dead for years. But in Essa’s timeline, the Prime who’s causing all this trouble…he’s still alive. She made some weird choices that majorly changed things, and…yeah.”

“But…wait…w-we…h-how do we…” Jacek stammered. He seemed like he knew what I meant, but didn’t want to accept it. Jo, on the other hand, came to grips with it immediately.

“We have to kill her version of him. That’s what you’re saying, right?” she asked shakily.

I ducked my head. “Yeah. That’s what we’re saying.”

“It’ll fix all the messy problems with time and consistency and normality…but it’ll force at least one of us to live through a nightmare.” Julia said quietly.

Jacek was staring straight ahead, his green eyes focused on something in the middle distance and full of tears. “Jace?” I asked carefully. “Are you alright?”

He raised his un-gauntleted hand to cover his mouth, eyes still unfocused. “So…Reuben was…always meant to die? It didn’t matter what we did or didn’t do…in the end, he was _always_ going to be gone?”

“Yeah. I think so.” I murmured. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “That’s…god, I don’t even know what that is.”

“Cruel. Twisted. Absolutely sickening.” Jo said in a low voice. She lifted her head confidently, looking at Julia, then me.

“What’s the plan?”


	30. If I Cannot Reach Heaven...

All she has to do is wait.

It’s so unbelievably simple, she almost _doesn’t_ believe it. After just one conversation, she slipped effortlessly right into the quest, the young Prime doubting her no more than he does any of his other friends.

Was she ever so gullible? She doesn’t think she was.

But on the other hand, why _should_ he doubt her? Why should any of them? Essa knows how to lie. She knows how to mask her expressions, and how to play innocent. She knows how to fake sympathy and fear and concern for others and all the other emotions that died a number of years ago. 

Things are already changing. She passed herself off as a seasoned explorer, and Jasper didn’t hesitate to accept her advice when she recommended one action over another. This timeline is getting further and further off from the original with every new motion from the Prime, and she’s loving it.

Nothing can stop her now. She knows exactly what’s going to happen, and how she’s going to deal with it. Even if the rest of the Primes try to stop her, there’s no way they can.

When Jasper and Axel return with Magnus, and Olivia returns with Ellegaard, they’ll all head towards Soren’s mountain fortress, and end up separated and trapped in the secret room in the library. She considered changing that bit when she first mapped out her plan for being in this timeline, but decided against it. Going through the grinder _is_ probably the easiest way to get to the End.

She sits near the edge of the map room, looking out at the sunlight casting shadows along the valley. She’s waiting for someone, while this timeline’s Lukas is on the lower level doing repairs.

He was one of the more suspicious ones when she met the rest of the group, but it didn’t matter too much, since the others were fairly suspicious of _him_. Then, on the trip through the Nether, Essa had helped him fend off a Wither Skeleton, which earned her his approval instantly.

She smiles slightly at the memory. So naïve, all of them.

She and Jasper had met up in EnderCon, after he’d already been cheated out of the deal by Ivor. She’d told him she’d seen Ivor heading towards the Hall, and hadn’t had any further problems sticking with the group.   
This version of Olivia had seemed vaguely distrusting of her at first, but Axel and Petra had accepted her quickly. Not that she needs anyone’s approval outside of Jasper’s, but it helps keep things smooth.

Nothing can stop her now.

She has to admit it was mildly unsettling to meet the younger versions of the friends she’d lost so many years ago. She’d forgotten how sarcastically intelligent Olivia was, and how Axel’s brashness didn’t completely hide his gentle side. She’d forgotten how perfectly fearless and funny Petra was, and…well, nearly _everything_ about Lukas.

He’d died so long ago, that, before she’d come here, so much of the witty, clever, nervous blond boy had completely dissolved from her mind.

But that doesn’t matter. She will have him back soon, the _real_ him, who never should have died when he did. She will have him, and all the rest of her friends.

She will have it all.

Her eyes lift to the horizon as a hint of motion catches her attention. Just as she expected, it’s Petra, hurrying towards the ruins of the temple in that stilted half-jog of someone who’s been running for a long time and can’t quite manage it anymore but is trying anyways.

Essa stands, shielding her eyes from the sun. “Lukas!” she calls down, turning and striding towards the stairs that lead down to the library. She jogs past the rows of bookshelves and through the long hall that, until a few hours ago, had been thoroughly booby-trapped.

The familiar boy comes hurrying towards her, abandoning the section of the wall he’d been rebuilding. “What? Did you see something?”

“Not something, some_one_! Petra’s on her way, I just saw her!” Essa says in false excitement. His face lights up.

“I _knew_ she’d be able to find her way here!” Without another word, he races off towards the valley, to greet the red-haired girl. Essa follows behind, taking her time.

She catches up, just as Lukas and Petra wrap each other in a tight, relieved-to-see-you hug. “You’re okay! I can’t believe it, you’re really okay! And you’re _here_!” Lukas exclaims when they finally pull away.

Petra laughs, though it’s not an overly happy sound. “Yeah, looks like I am. But what about you? Did everyone get through the Nether safely? Oh, hey Essa!”

Essa waves cheerfully, then gives Petra a light punch on the shoulder. “Hey. I’m glad to see you back. I knew you were a tough little scrapper.” she says, though Petra is hardly a ‘little’ anything. This version of her is only seventeen, but she’s already a few inches taller than Essa, and the older woman knows she will get taller still.

“Thanks. It’s such a relief to see you both, you have no idea what I’ve been through. Where’s everyone else?” Petra asks. “Don’t get me wrong, I have no complaints about the welcoming committee, but…?”

Lukas sighs. “Right, yeah. The Order’s not here, obviously, but we found a map that showed where they all are. Jasper and Axel are going to Boomtown to recruit Magnus, while Essa and I wanted to wait here for you. And Olivia was _supposed_ to stay with us, but she decided to go off and try to find Ellegaard on her own.”

Petra says something in reply to this, but Essa doesn’t hear it. Her mind suddenly goes silent, all her thoughts replaced by an ominously echoing voice.

_Essa. This is Julia. After everything that’s happened, Jess and I have decided that you were right from the beginning. As much as it pains me to say it, I think we are better off as allies. If you’re still interested in letting us join your side, come to the In-Between as soon as you can. _

Everything snaps back to normal. Essa blinks, her brain already spinning around what just happened.

“Essa? You alright?” Lukas asks. “You looked kinda worried there for a second.”

She smiles easily. “I’m fine. Just…a little concerned about the others, I guess.”

Lukas nods, accepting this without question. Essa gestures back towards the temple. “You guys head back in, I think I’m gonna see if there’s any sheep or chickens around. You’re probably hungry after such a long journey.” she says to Petra. In actuality, Essa’s inventory is well-stocked with food, but they don’t need to know that.

The red-haired girl lowers her head slightly. “Yeah, I am. Thanks.” 

The two of them head back towards the towering building, and Essa quickly hurries out of sight and earshot. She has to make sure they don’t see or hear her opening the gate.

When she’s certain the coast is clear, she retrieves her diamond sword from her inventory and begins tracing the exit symbols in the air. Essa smiles slightly, though it’s rather scary and grim in contrast to the bright grin she offers for show.

She already knows the other Primes are up to no good. They’re not looking for an alliance. They’re hoping to trick her.

She’d like to see them try.

\-----

** ▪ Jess’s POV ** ** ▪ **

All we had to do was wait.

Julia had said that the message went through, so Essa should stroll through the gate any moment now. I couldn’t afford to assume she didn’t know what we were up to, but I was hoping we’d be able to succeed nonetheless. She was outnumbered, and we had Admin powers on our side.

But…I still couldn’t help but feel nervous. 

The small, dim gate shimmered slightly, and I instinctively reached for my sword. I forced myself to retract my hand and leave the weapon in my inventory. On the off chance that Essa somehow believed we really were here for an alliance, I wasn’t about to blow that by seeming hostile right off the bat.

“It’s her.” Jo said quietly. Sure enough, she’d barely closed her mouth when Essa strode confidently through the gate.

She looked somewhat different. The purple bandana she’d worn over her mouth was gone, and her hair was pulled back away from her face, fully showing her elegant features and dark-oak-brown eyes.

She stood in front of the gate, propping her hands on her hips and looking around at all of us as a slow, mischievous smile spread across her face. “Well, look at this! All of the Primes here in one spot! This is downright historical, I’d bet. Is anyone writing this down?”

Her dark eyes flicked to each of us again, before they settled predatorily on Jo. “Josephine! So good to finally meet you. You’ve heard quite a bit about me, hm?”

Jo made an odd wincing motion, and Essa gently touched her own chin with a long finger. “Oh, right. You prefer ‘Jo’, correct? I agree; it’s much less feminine. Though if you ask me, ‘Seph’ would be just as good. Prefix nicknames are overrated if you ask me.” 

Then she turned her attention on Jacek. “And Jace! Tsk, haven’t gotten that gauntlet off yet, eh? No worries, you’ll figure it out.” she told him with a flippant wave of her hand. “Congratu_lations_ on your engagement, by the way. All the people _I’ve_ cared about have either ended up dying or betraying me, so I _dearly _hope you have better luck.”

The words were said in a very strange way, tiptoeing along the edge of sarcasm without actually touching it.

“Why is she acting like this?” Julia muttered to me. I shook my head. “She’s up to something. We need to be careful.”

Seeming like she’d heard us, Essa whipped her head around to smile malevolently at Julia. “Julie, of course, how could I have forgotten? _Still_ haven’t bothered to take care of your own timeline, I see. Sure would be a shame if anything terrible were to happen there, while its glorious half-Admin protector was off dealing with other things.”

Jacek’s eyes cut to Julia, his expression filling with surprise and the beginnings of betrayal. Essa let out an elegantly malicious laugh. “Oh, so sorry, was that a secret? My mistake.”

Finally, Essa looked directly at me, and a shiver darted across my shoulders. Her eyes were threateningly dark, and her smile was so sharp it probably could’ve sliced through flesh. “And Jess. My oh-so-righteous equivalent. I’m certainly glad you’re coming over to my side; I daresay you’re the only one who could honestly stop me if you tried hard enough.”

Parting our little group, she sauntered past us and into the center of the ring of gates, making a dramatic gesture with her hands. “So, I’m here now. Did my ears deceive me, or did I hear something about an alliance?”

I was still a little put off by her strange behavior, but luckily Julia still had a grasp on her senses. “It wasn’t your ears that deceived you.” she announced, her eyes flooding with Admin red and gold.

Just like that, a substance that looked like liquid obsidian shot out of the ground and coated Essa’s legs up to the knees. The texture of the stuff immediately changed, and I realized that it had, in fact, become full-fledged obsidian.

Essa looked down at her imprisoned feet, not seeming overly concerned by the fact that she now couldn’t move. She reached up and brushed a lock of dark hair away from her face, commenting, “Well, that seems extreme.”

I drew my sword, pointing it at her. “Here’s the thing, Essa. We know what you’re doing. We know why you’ve been messing with the timelines, and what you’re trying to do with the newest one. And above all, we found out how to _stop_ you.”

She smiled. “Have you, now?”

“It’s Reuben. If we kill the Reuben of your timeline and stop you from saving the him of this new timeline, that fixes everything. Removing the missing constant restores order to the timelines, and _he’s_ the missing constant.”

I was afraid that Essa was about to give us another smug remark and wicked grin, but she didn’t. Her face lost all emotion for a second, then gradually sank into a horrified expression. “No…what? I-I didn’t…you weren’t…you weren’t supposed to…_how?_” she stammered.

“A bit of help, a lot of clues, and a big fat dose of luck.” I said simply.

Jacek crossed his arms. “So here’s what’s going to happen, with no two ways around it. _We_ are going to get into your timeline and fix all this, because _you_ are going to tell us where Reuben is.”

A war of emotions flickered across Essa’s face, and I could tell she was thinking hard. She still seemed shocked that we’d worked out the missing constant, but that disbelief was slowly replaced by cold, hard, determination.

“Or what?” she asked stubbornly.

Julia gave her a stern look, still with those same eerie eyes. “Or _this_.”

She made a small motion with her hand, and the obsidian crept further up Essa’s legs, covering her knees and heading up her thighs. “I am not afraid to turn you into an entire obsidian statue and leave you here while we find Reuben ourselves. You know I _can_ use my powers to do that. So, if you help us, we’ll let you go back to your own timeline once we’ve fixed everything. If you don’t, well…you already know that I’d jump at the chance to leave you here to rot.”

Essa didn’t say anything at first, assessing each of us with a somber expression. Despite the serious look that dominated most of her face, I could swear I still caught a hint of mirth in her eyes. What could she possibly be thinking, that allowed her amusement at a time like this?

“I just don’t _know_.” she proclaimed, dramatically laying her left hand against her cheek. “You _must_ know what an absolutely impossible situation this puts me in. The option to go home free and clear, but having to know I’ve crumpled my own plans, my own _dreams_ in the dust? It’s too hard! Are you sure _you’re_ not the villains of this story?”

The rest of us didn’t deign to reply, except Jo, who hesitantly said, “Well…are you _sure_ we couldn’t reach some sort of compromise?”

Essa’s head snapped up to look at the younger woman, and the malevolent smirk resurfaced. Julia took one look at this and shook her head. “No. No compromises, no second chances, no shady deals. She’s just playing games. This is the only way.”

“The only way…” Essa echoed ominously. In response, Julia made the obsidian reach even higher, beginning to cover Essa’s hips. I squinted at the dark stone covering her feet. It looked…different than it had before. The texture was less consistent, almost like it was cracking. What was happening?

Seeming not to notice the obsidian, Essa continued speaking in the same low, vaguely threatening tone. “I must say, this really is a shame. I could’ve offered you so much if only you’d teamed up with me. Because, the thing is, you can’t actually stop me. Not like this. I may not be the largest or most powerful enemy you’ve fought, but I’m certainly the smartest- and that makes me the most dangerous of all. While you so-called _heroes_ are always looking for the _easiest_ or _noblest_ way of doing things, you’re forgetting that doesn’t make them the only way.”

Her sinister little smile widened into a full wicked grin. “Because you know what they say_. Flectere si nequeo superos…acheronta movebo_.”

“What?” Jo asked in an undertone, but none of us had a chance to answer. Formidable cracks suddenly shot up the obsidian surrounding Essa’s legs, and before any of us could even shout, her black prison had practically exploded, sending chips of obsidian flying at us.

I covered my face with my arms, my mind full of curse words and question marks, and when I lowered them…Essa was gone.

“What the- where the hell did she go?!” Jacek bellowed. “What just happened?!”

“I don’t fucking know! That wasn’t supposed to happen!” Julia exclaimed back, her eyes still Admin-red.

I heard a strange sound, almost like the sizzling flash of a gate forming, and turned. Essa had reappeared out of thin air, gripping the diamond sword that had previously been in Julia’s hand. I didn’t know how she’d gotten it or when, but now, the blade was held high, just inches from Jo’s back.

“JO! LOOK OUT!” I screamed. The younger Prime started to turn, but it was too late.

She barely had a chance to cry out as the blade was shoved through her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> google translate will lie to you, but 'flectere si nequeo superos, acheronta movebo' means 'if I cannot bend the heavens above, I will move Hell', but i've shortened it to the chapter titles of this one and the next.   
if i cannot reach heaven, i will raise hell. whatever. same difference.


	31. ...I Will Raise Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: GORE N BLOOD

The diamond sword was dragged roughly down, opening a horrible gory crevice along the left side of Jo’s body. Her armour may have been named ‘Swordbreaker’, but it didn’t seem to do any return damage to the heavily enchanted weapon, the crimson-stained tip of it visible all the way through her body from where it had been stabbed in.

The blade was yanked out with almost as much force, droplets of thick red liquid dripping off it as Essa lifted the sword and examined it.

Jo convulsed as she dropped to the ground, a small gasp accompanying the stream of red that trickled from her lips. A ghastly pool of blood began forming around her almost before she’d fully collapsed, leaking steadily from the terrible wound.

Her eyes focused on me for half a second, lit with horror and betrayal, before they stilled and clouded over forever.

A slight rumbling shook the ground beneath my feet, swiftly worsening into what felt like a full-blown earthquake. I stared around, wondering what was happening, before my eyes caught on the gate to Jo’s timeline. The white smear in the air was shaking, something that I didn’t really think was possible until I saw it for myself.

Then it exploded.

A blast of white light shot out of the gate, temporarily blinding me. The quaking of the ground intensified, so much that I could hardly stand. When I opened my eyes again, I saw that the gate was still emitting light, though now in tendrils instead of one big blast. The stems of white stretched out in all directions, like they were searching for something to grasp onto.

Two of them shot towards me, and though I tried to dodge out of the way, they grabbed ahold of my limbs and I screamed. Although I didn’t exactly _feel_ them, a sickening sort of pain had suddenly pierced my mind, making me almost dizzy with agony. It was a deep-rooted, nauseating ache, all laced with the ill feeling that something had just gone horribly, impossibly wrong.

I distantly heard Jacek and Julia’s voices as well, but couldn’t make out what they were saying through my haze of pain. More tendrils had sought me out now, and the dreadful feeling was only worsening.

Pure unfiltered pain, everywhere. It hurt worse than any injury I’d ever received in my life, even worse than when Mevia’s axes had plunged into my chest in the Old Builders’ games. At least then it had been a swift, sharp blow, and then I’d died. This time, it seemed neverending, the sick pulsing feeling only intensifying the agony wracking my body.

I managed to focus on the gate that had led to Jo’s timeline, seeing that the bright glow it had previously held was gradually fading, being sucked away by the branches of light. As the last throes of light vanished, another brilliant flash lit up the In-Between, and I shut my eyes once more.

Images of memories blazed behind my eyes, though none of them were quite my own. It was all of Jo’s life: the moment she met Reuben; her and Olivia building the treehouse as new spawns; she and Axel fighting off skeletons; her talking to Lukas at EnderCon; defeating the Witherstorm, running through the Portal Network with Ivor…every little bit of her hero’s journey thus far, played out behind my eyes in extreme fast-forward.

Then, all of it vanished. The light, the anguish, the memories, everything. I dragged in a shaky breath and dared to open my eyes.

I’d somehow ended up on the ground, crouched on my hands and knees. To my right, Julia had collapsed all the way, looking almost like a second corpse before she slowly lifted her head and began to push herself to her feet.

I gradually got up, retrieving my diamond sword from where I must’ve dropped it when the horrible pain began. My head was still spinning, and I tried to make sense of what had just happened.

I looked over at Jo’s gate…but it was gone. There was nothing there, just a big, ugly space where her timeline used to be.

It hit me like a punch to the gut. In killing Jo, Essa had destroyed her entire timeline, and everyone who lived there. Erased from existence, just as surely as if they’d never existed at all.

“What…the fuck.” came Jacek’s hoarse voice from somewhere behind me. I hardly heard him. My eyes had caught on something even worse than the missing gate- Jo’s crumpled, bled-out body, with her killer standing triumphantly over her.

Essa didn’t look at all like she’d been affected by the timeline’s destruction at all, at least not in the same way that the rest of us had. She looked just as perfectly poised as ever, even with the sword in her hand still dripping dark blood onto the ground.

She twisted the weapon back and forth, studying the horrible smears of scarlet all along the blade. “Oops. It slipped.” she said casually.

It was as though someone had put blinders alongside my eyes. All I could see in that moment was Essa, the blood on her sword, and the terrible heart-wrenching sight of Jo’s body. I adjusted my grip on my sword, my survival instinct trying in vain to tamp down my brightening anger.

It failed. With a guttural scream, I launched myself at Essa, swinging my sword up and fully intending to slice her in half just as she’d done to Jo.

Her arm moved up, and she blocked my strike effortlessly, even having the gall to let out a small laugh as she did so. “Jess, _really_? You’re going to try to attack me _now_, after seeing what I just did?”

I ignored this at first, taking another wild swipe at her. She dodged this one as well, our diamond blades ringing against each other. This time, she didn’t bother to wait for me to attempt another blow- she pushed her full strength against me, forcing me to stand my ground as best I could.

Her foot struck the side of my knee, knocking my legs out from under me. Just as swiftly, she delivered a harsh kick to my ribs, making me cry out from the unexpected pain.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Julia’s eyes go red again. She reached a hand towards Essa, fingers outstretched, and an enormous fist made of what appeared to be gold blocks shot towards the other Prime.

Essa dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way, then was on her feet again just as quickly. Julia shouted in rage and sent another gold fist at her from her other hand.

Instead of ducking, Essa simply waited as the gold formation headed straight for her, and readied her sword. Right before it would’ve hit her, she swung the blade up in an elegant arc, shattering the golden ‘fist’ into a million tiny pieces. Julia froze, staring in shock.

By that time, I’d managed to pick myself up again, though I wasn’t stupid enough to try to attack Essa again. The furious adrenaline that had boosted my energy was fading fast, and I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to beat Essa in one-on-one combat even if it wasn’t.

The tall woman smirked. “Had enough? Even _you_ must’ve gotten it through your thick skull by now that you can’t get me that easily.” she bragged, nodding to Julia. 

“We’ll stop you, Essa. I swear it.” Julia hissed.

Essa grinned, twirling the sword. “That’s just the thing: I don’t think you will. And I doubt _you_ believe you will, either, after that little show. Because even though you’re greater in number, and you have those _interesting _little Admin powers…you’re forgetting one thing.”

“And what’s that?” Jacek asked, his tone flooding with intentional rudeness.

At first, Essa didn’t say anything to that, just turned away and stepped towards the newest timeline again. At the last second, she glanced over her shoulder at us, and said confidently, “_I’m_ the Primum Movens.”

Stowing the sword in her inventory, she disappeared into the gate. A deathly, terrible silence fell over the In-Between, the only sound being the ragged huffs of my own breath echoing in my ears. The weight of our failure seemed to be pressing down on me, filling my senses with a horrible, choking blackness.

My gaze drifted to Jo again, and I felt tears sting the corners of my eyes. Of all of us that Essa could’ve chosen to kill, why did it have to be her? She was so positive and clever. I’d honestly believed that she could’ve gone the farthest of all of us, done the best even when the world tried to knock her down.

But instead, her body rested pathetically on the ground of this impossible dimension, surrounded by the drying pool of her own lifeblood. Never to move again, not to do things of great nor ordinary magnitude.

And her timeline…all the people who lived there…all the things that had happened…it was all gone.

I closed my eyes again, inhaling deeply and trying to keep my breathing steady.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Jacek asked softly.

Julia sighed, turning to look at him. “I’m not sure. I didn’t think…I knew she wouldn’t give up without a fight, but I never expected something like _that_ could happen.”

“We’ve got to stop her somehow, before she makes things even worse.” I said, trying to search for _some_ hint of positivity in this situation. I failed. “But…I just don’t know how.”

I glanced over at Jacek and Julia. They both looked as defeated as I felt, completely incapable of dealing with this intense failure.

“What happens if we can’t fix this?” Jacek asked in a low, distantly nervous voice. “What happens to our worlds? What happens to _us_?”

“Either she kills us all, or everything is plunged into chaos, probably forever. I may not know what ‘chaos forever’ means, but I _don’t_ want to find out.” Julia said. She straightened her stance, looking steadily at us both. “I’m willing to die fighting if it means we have even a _chance_ of stopping her. This is bad, but it doesn’t have to be the end.”

Jacek and I exchanged a look. “I agree…but Julia, I’m not sure what we can do right now.” I said slowly.

She let out another long exhale. “You’re right on that. We should…we should go back to your timeline, Jess. Maybe Lukas or Radar or Aiden will have ideas on what to do next, or maybe we’ll be able to come up with something on our own once we’ve…properly processed what happened.” she continued, casting a melancholy glance at Jo’s body.

“Okay. Worth a shot. It’s not like we can do anything with Essa’s guard up as much as it is.” I agreed hesitantly, then looked to Jacek. “Maybe you should go back to your timeline, make sure Essa or one of her cronies doesn’t try something while your back is turned. This…I’m sorry we dragged you into this. This wasn’t really your problem until we made it that way, and I apologize for that.”

Jacek shook his head. “Don’t say anything. I don’t blame you. I want to help as much as possible, so if you need me again, don’t hesitate to come get me. This may not have been my fight at first, but it is now, and I’m okay with that.”

I nodded. “Alright. Good luck, then.”

“You too. Again, come get me if you need anything.” He ordered, turning towards his gate.

I finally set my sword back in my inventory and looked at the white abyss that led back to my own timeline. Julia gently rested a hand on my shoulder. “Come on. With a little time, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out.”

We walked over to the gate together, and I stood motionless in front of it. I had the image of the Order Hall in my mind, but it kept being pushed back by the horrific memory of Essa’s sword carving away Jo’s life. 

I inhaled deeply and tried to clear my mind, stepping across the threshold. The eternal white light surrounded me yet again, though it couldn’t do a thing to chase away the dark bitterness of failure.


	32. Secrets and Subversion

The base feels somehow deathly empty without Essa around.

It’s not, though, not in the slightest. All of Essa’s followers roam the underground base as normal, the tunnels echoing with the usual footsteps and voices. In fact, it’s only one person who seems unsettled by her disappearance.

This is the third day that Aiden has spent down in the map room, studying the timelines and looking for an answer to the questions he doesn’t know how to ask. His head is full of a strange, disquieted buzzing, all of his thoughts jumbled and nervous.

He combs through the charts, lists, graphs and other technical nonsense, green eyes skimming over lines and lines of Essa’s handwriting. Sometimes her notes are accompanied by Giselle’s flowing script, or the rushed printing of Ivor.

Surprisingly enough, he can’t find anything neatly written by Olivia, though he knows she helped with the research of the timelines in the very beginning, before even Giselle got involved. Perhaps Essa copied everything down that she’d written, throwing out the originals for want of forgetting. 

He doesn’t know what he’s looking for. An answer, of course, but an answer to _what?_

Essa’s plans are so complicated and so wide-stretching that he doesn’t know anymore when the answers he finds are truly answers or just more questions in disguise. It’s becoming terribly frustrating.

Quiet footsteps gradually draw nearer, and Aiden lifts his head. People have been walking by the map room all day, but this particular person is being too careful about their approach. Aiden has been training himself for years to be aware of things like this, and now he’s glad he has.

He waits cautiously as the face of a young teenage boy peers carefully into the room. He notices Aiden glowering in his direction, and startles.

“What do you want?” Aiden snaps. Having been caught, the boy steps fully inside, tucking his hands behind his back.

“Sir, forgive the intrusion, but Giselle wishes to speak with you.”

Aiden’s upper lip curls, almost without him realizing. He scoffs. “Lovely. Tell her she can keep wishing, then.”

He’s hoping the dark tone will drive the kid away, but it doesn’t. The boy instead squares his shoulders, giving Aiden a cool look. “Sir, she told me not to leave without you. It’s urgent.”

“And what if I think what I’m doing is _more_ urgent, and I’d rather stay?” Aiden asks bitingly. Although his research isn’t really getting him very far, he’d prefer it over being forced to talk to the cryptic and uptight woman.

The boy shuffles his feet slightly, still giving Aiden the same unrelenting look. “Then I’ll have to wait for you, I suppose.”

Aiden glares at him, knowing he’s just been cornered. He doesn’t like the idea of this kid standing there staring at him as he continues to search, and he knows that’s exactly why Giselle told the messenger to do that. He growls. “Fine. _Fine._ What does the witch want?”

“She didn’t say.” the boy informs him crisply, noticeably leaving off the ‘sir’ that he’d been addressing Aiden as before. “She simply ordered me to fetch you to her office.”

“Pretentious nuisance.” Aiden grumbles. “If it’s so important, why didn’t she come get me herself, instead of sending one of her nasty little harbingers?”

“She didn’t say.” The boy repeats. Aiden cuts another vicious glare at him and reluctantly follows him from the room, muttering mutinously. He doesn’t like this. He doesn’t trust Giselle on a good day, even less now that Essa has disappeared, and has no idea what she might want from him.

Aiden doesn’t really need the messenger to show him the way to Giselle’s quarters, but he deigns to trailing behind anyways. Giselle lives in the deepest part of the tunnels, for, as far as Aiden knows, no other purpose but to be creepy.

The boy opens the birch door that leads to the room Giselle has dubbed her ‘office’, though Aiden personally thinks it’s more of a lair. It’s a tall room, lined with bookshelves, chests and Shulker boxes full of questionable objects, and colourful banners decorated with strange, unfamiliar shapes. An armour stand is posed in one corner, dressed in fancy iron armour and holding an enchanted gold sword. End rods hanging from the ceiling illuminate the room, and in the center of it all is the birch-wood desk.

Giselle stands with her back to the door, on the far side of the desk. She appears to be studying one of the bookshelves, but is clearly paying attention. “Have a seat,” she suggests as soon as Aiden comes through the door.

He reluctantly sits in the simple chair on this side of the desk, still wondering what is going on. The petite woman still hasn’t turned around, even after the messenger boy shuts the door audibly.

“What do you want from me, Giselle?” Aiden asks gruffly.

“Why do you assume I want something from you?” she returns swiftly, still not facing him.

He glares at the back of her head, feeling very much like his time is being deliberately wasted. “Well, what other reason do you have for dragging me here? And don’t say anything along the lines of ‘just to talk’. None of Essa’s followers I know of do anything without a motive.”

She whirls around, wearing a bright smile. A lock of auburn hair falls elegantly over her right eye, and she tosses her head to move it. “That’s very true. But I’m not looking to gain anything _from_ you; rather, I’m hoping to _help_ you.”

He crosses his arms, suspiciously watching as she sits elegantly in the chair across from him. He doesn’t like having to look her directly face to face- the lively flecks of violet in her intense grey eyes are strangely unsettling. “Help me with what?”

“Finding answers. Oh, come on, you think I haven’t noticed all the time you’ve been spending in the map room? Trust me, I’ll be able to help much more than any of Essa’s scrambled papers will.” she says.

He narrows his eyes, and lets the silence stretch on for several moments. Giselle doesn’t seem intimidated, folding her hands on the birch desk and watching him calmly.

Aiden sighs, and unfolds his arms. He rests one elbow on the desk, pointing a finger at Giselle. “Here’s the thing: I don’t trust you. I never have, not from the moment you walked into Essa’s life. You’re sneaky and suspicious, and this entire situation feels like you’re up to something. And I get the feeling you don’t really trust me, either, so why are you suddenly trying to help me?”

She quirks an eyebrow, looking mildly amused. Aiden has half a mind to reach over and cuff the look off her face, but he remains still as she says, “Don’t trust me? After everything I’ve done to help Essa, and, by association, you? Whatever have I done to earn that?”

He sneers. “You’ve done plenty, whether you realize it or not. Shall I go into it? For starters, you have no history, no backstory. No one down here knows anything relevant about you; where you came from, who you are, _anything_. Admittedly, a lot of us have our secrets as well, but you’re different. There’s a pretty well-defined line between ‘private’ and ‘hiding something’, and you’re _not_ on the private side.”

She raises her eyebrows in surprise, but he’s not anywhere near done. “I still remember how Essa first met you, and I still remember how absolutely suspicious it was. You turned up out of nowhere to assist her in researching the timelines, though you never offered a real explanation on how you found out about them, or why you wanted to help her. Essa hasn’t done much to inspire your loyalty, and yet you’re as close to her as I am. I’ve never managed to figure that out, because you’re_ way_ too good at hiding your motives. I’ve seen you effortlessly lie to other people, and you’re so good at it that you could almost convince _me_ that you’re telling the truth, even when I know otherwise. So, with all that in mind, whatever have you done to earn my, or anyone’s trust?” 

It’s silent for several moments more. Giselle lifts her hands off the desk and leans back, watching Aiden with surprised eyes. “Well. What do you know.” she murmurs. “And to think, I’d previously been writing you off as a dumb bodyguard who only stuck with Essa because you didn’t realize you had other options. That was honestly a little disturbing.”

“So?” Aiden challenges, leaning towards her. He knows he’s shaken her guard, and he wants to take as much advantage of that as he can. It’s very satisfying to see Giselle as the shaken-up one for once. “I’ll ask it again. What. Do. You. Want?”

Giselle gradually collects herself. “I’ve already told you, Aiden. I want to help you understand Essa’s schemes a little better.” she says silkily. “Let’s start by asking, what_ do_ you know about her plan?”

He crosses his arms again, very miffed at being treated like a new spawn. “She’s going to change the past, to save all the people she’s lost. She’s messing with the order of the timelines to push things out of sync, which will ultimately give her the power she needs to overthrow the stability of reality, so she can re-craft her timeline to end the way she wants it to.”

“Simply but accurately put.” Giselle says with a nod, though her eyes are sparkling with a strange kind of malevolent delight. “And you know _why_ she can do this?”

Aiden glares, but answers anyways. “Because she’s one of the ‘original’ Primes and has more power over the timelines than most of the others.” he says dismissively.

Giselle smiles sharply. “Right. But what you _don’t_ know…is what else it means for her to be an original Prime.”

“How do you know I don’t know?” he asks nastily. Her eyes narrow slightly as she replies, “You don’t know, because _Essa_ doesn’t know.”

He leans away slightly, taken a little off guard by this. Giselle sets her elbows on the desk, intertwining her fingers. “I’m going to tell you a secret, Aiden. Actually, more than one. I’ve taken somewhat of a liking to you, and I’d say that you deserve to hear this.”

A sharp zing of unease ripples up his spine, and he becomes aware that he may have just gotten himself into a very dangerous position. He doesn’t know what Giselle’s hiding or what she’s up to, but he has a feeling it can’t be anything good.

“A great number of Essa’s friends have lost their lives during her various quests.” she continues. “She has been tormented by these losses for years, and is using the timelines as a way to reverse them. But what she doesn’t know is _why_ they happened.”

“Because some great cosmic force is out to get her?” Aiden snarks. 

Giselle pauses, looking thoughtfully up towards the ceiling. “Ah…you could say that, though the truth is a touch less dramatic. Essa is one of two ‘original’ Primes, the other being Jess, whom we met a little while back, I’m sure you remember him.”

As a matter of fact, Aiden mostly just remembers the Lukas of that timeline, but he doesn’t say anything about that as Giselle keeps speaking.

“Essa, and nearly everyone else who knows about the timelines, thinks that all Primes are the same. They have different appearances, and changes in their personalities, but they are essentially the same people. This is incorrect in a few areas, but mostly this one: the two original Primes, the ones that drive the timelines that formed first, are not equivalents, but _opposites_.”

Aiden blinks. “What? How?”

“_How_ is a little difficult to explain.” Giselle says delicately. “Let me put it like this. Our world is full of polar opposites. Day and night, order and chaos, right and wrong, life and death, light and darkness. So naturally, when the two original timelines formed, they continued the theme. One represented the ‘bad’: chaos, death, and darkness. The other took the role of the ‘good’: order, life, and light. There is no _how_. They just are.”

Startled, Aiden hesitantly asks, “S-so this timeline is just…destined to be like this? No matter what Essa did or didn’t do?”

Giselle shakes her head. She seems to be enjoying her position as expository master just a little too much. “Not quite. See, the two original timelines were both originally blank slates. Either of them could’ve been the dark, and either could’ve just as easily been the light. Hell, maybe I’m mistaken, and they _both_ could’ve turned out light. But their fates were changed by who the Primes became, and how they lived. As time went on, Essa became a bitter and vengeful person, while Jess sought peace and forgiveness. Essa is a destroyer, and Jess is a creator. Thus, this whole timeline was skewed more and more towards the dark, until it became the chaotic and broken place it is today. And _that_ is why the two original Primes are more powerful than the others, because they represent the perfect differences that make up our universe.”

Aiden’s mind spins around and around all the implications of this. He doesn’t know what to make of this new information. And even more…he doesn’t know what it means that Giselle is telling him this.

The auburn-haired woman is quiet for several moments, letting all this information sink in. She has more to say, but wants to make sure she only hits him with one infodump at a time. 

“Why are you telling me this?” Aiden finally asks.

Giselle looks at him mutely, then tips her head to the side and answers his question with another. “You said earlier that I hadn’t done anything to earn your trust or loyalty. So let me ask: how exactly did _Essa_ earn it? As far as I can tell, that woman’s caused you nothing but pain and problems, so why do you stay so devotedly by her side?”

Aiden doesn’t waste any time thinking. He’s relayed this response before. “Essa gave me a second chance when I needed it most. She’s all I have left, and I’ll stick with her until the end.”

The corners of Giselle’s mouth turn upwards, though it’s not a real smile. “Not the answer I’m looking for. What did she do for you that inspired that undying loyalty?”

Aiden sighs heavily. “Look, I don’t even fully remember. It was seven years ago. My best friend had just died, and I was hungering for revenge on the person I considered to be his killer. My other friends abandoned me, and I left my whole world behind. I threw my entire life away, because I didn’t believe Essa and the Order deserved to be heroes and I was trying to expose and destroy them. I almost destroyed myself, too, and the worst part is that I was almost okay with that. I would’ve ended up in a dingy prison for the rest of my life, but Essa gave me a second chance. She told me that she wasn’t to blame for Lukas’s death, and if I could come to terms with that, she would allow me to leave with them and start over. She gave me something when I had nothing left, and I swore that I’d repay her in loyalty.”

“And…?” Giselle asks, raising an eyebrow.

He scowls, crossing his arms. “And what? That’s it. That’s why I stick with her?”

“Maybe that’s why you joined her in the beginning, but that can’t be why you stayed.” Giselle says knowingly. She turns sideways, swinging her legs over one of the chair’s arms. “Like I said, she represents darkness. Everyone around her either falls away or starts attracting problems of their own. Being her bodyguard, her second-in-command, and, worst of all, her _friend_ has cost you a lot over the years. So why are you still with her?” 

Aiden fidgets slightly in his seat, feeling highly uncomfortable. No one has seen past that story before, to the dark reason beyond. “Because…staying loyal to her means that I’ll get everything I want, too.” he admits in a low voice. “She’s going to succeed in turning back time. She’ll create her perfect world, with everything exactly how she wants it. And since I’ve stuck by her side for so long, she’ll make sure that I end up happy, too. I’m helping her, because I know in the end that it’ll help me as well.”

“Conniving.” Giselle comments. “But you’re wrong. Essa _isn’t_ going to succeed.”

He sits up straighter. He wasn’t expecting that. “What? Why not? Oh…oh, wait. It’s…because she’s the darkness, right? Since she’s the destroyer…her plans are going to end up failing. Oh, no.”

Giselle smiles again, the look full of poison and knives. “That’s smart, but no. Not quite.”

“Why, then?” Aiden inquires bluntly. His brain is scrambling for an answer, but the one Giselle gives isn’t any of the ones he ever could’ve thought up.

“She’s going to fail, because she trusts me.”

He stares.

Her smile hasn’t changed as she watches him mirthfully, as though she’s just told a delightfully clever riddle and she’s waiting for him to solve it. Disjointed fragments of words keep appearing in Aiden’s mind, but they dissolve before he manages to say anything.

“Essa has spent years forming her plan. Working out every little detail, making sure it all lines up perfectly. She never stopped to question that maybe, just _maybe_…all of her schemes were just part of someone else’s grand plan.” Giselle says lazily, looking over at the bookshelf again. 

“Y-you…you’re…are you s-saying…” he stammers, still unable to form actual words.

She looks back at him. “I’m saying that I have my own agenda, and Essa’s plans are only part of that.”

Giselle sits upright again, thoughtfully saying, “I suppose she _will_ succeed in the whole time-reversal thing, but not in the way she thinks she will. I still need her to get it going, but after that…”

Aiden’s mind is filled with a horrible ringing. This can’t be happening. He _cannot_ actually be sitting here, listening as Essa’s closest companion admits to plotting against her.   
“You’re…you’re a traitor.” he whispers. In a flurry of motion, he jumps up, tipping his chair back. Giselle doesn’t seem to notice. “You’re a _traitor_.”

“Mmm…I don’t know about that. Is it really betrayal if I was never truly on her side to begin with?” she asks. Then her voice becomes strangely cheery. “But this must be so gratifying for you, isn’t it? You were right all along- I’ve had ulterior motives straight from the beginning! Of course, you won’t be able to gloat to anyone about it, but whatever.”

“Wait, what about the other Primes?” Aiden suddenly realizes. “Couldn’t they stop you both?”

Giselle’s smile doesn’t drop. “Oh, don’t worry about _that_. Essa will take care of them; it’s all part of her plan. Isn’t it funny? She thought she was the queen, but in fact, she’s just a pawn. _I’m_ the one controlling the game.”

She lets out a small laugh, then gradually returns to being serious. “I must admit, it would’ve been much easier if none of the other Primes had gotten involved at all, especially Jess. I tried to get rid of the girl back when she first set foot in the In-Between, but I forgot about her abilities as a half-Admin. I consider myself very lucky that didn’t end up as messy as it could’ve been.”

Reality slowly starts to set in. This is real. Giselle is planning to betray Essa, at the worst time possible. She’s been planning it from the start, and he can’t do anything to stop her. 

“Why?” he asks softly. “What are you trying to get back?”

She stands up, turning away from him. “Everything.” she replies. Her voice has hardened significantly, not sounding half as amused as before. “I had everything that was even halfway important to me ripped away many, _many_ years ago, and I’m finally going to get it back. Power. Respect. Knowledge. _Power_. So many other things I can’t even name. I had everything I could ever want, and after only _one_ mistake, it was all torn to shreds.”

Giselle glances back at him, over her shoulder. “But it doesn’t matter what I lost, or how long I had to wait. I’ll have it all back soon. I’m going to reshape the universe to how _I_ want it, and when I do that, I’m going to make sure none of those blasted Primes ever spawn. _I’ll_ be in charge of this timeline and every other, and no one will be able to stop me. With the Primes nonexistent and all my other enemies dead, I could probably rule forever, with the whole universe quite literally in my hand.”

“So you’re not working for some higher cause. You’re not helping anyone else. You’re just using this as a way to take over the world.” he checks.

“I’m taking over more than just the _world_, but yes. See, that’s another flaw in Essa’s design. She’s motivated by grief and vengeance, and the desire to make things right. Me? I’m just out for power and fueled by greed, which are two of the most intoxicating drugs a person can encounter.” she says, sounding content with this fact. 

Aiden snarls. “You’re demonic. You’re taking everything away from Essa, and me, and everyone else in this timeline- no, this _universe!_ -just because you want power? It’s sick!”

“Oh, I know.” Giselle smiles. “But the thing is, as terrible as it is, no one can stop me from doing it. Because, as you’ve noticed, I’m very, _very_ careful with my secrets.”

She walks over and stands in front of the armour stand, gently removing the enchanted gold sword from its grasp. A dark, foreboding feeling floods through Aiden, making all the little hairs on the back of his neck stand up. 

“I’m…not going to make it out of this room, am I?” he asks slowly, though it isn’t much of a question.

Giselle turns and gives him another venomous smile. “Not the same way you came in, no.”

He shudders involuntarily. He should’ve seen it coming. She’s going to kill him, of course she is. And Essa will never even realize he’s missing, because Giselle is going to kill _her_, too.

_Oh, god. How did things go bad so quickly?_ he wonders.

She lays the sword down on the desk. “But it’s like I said at the beginning, Aiden. I like you. So no, I’m not going to kill you. However, you _are_ going to disappear. Forever. You already know what a cautious person I am, and I’m not going to risk you telling anyone else anything you heard in this room.”

“Then why not just kill me?” he asks, suspicious that she’s still going to do exactly that. She makes a face.

“Bodies are a little too difficult to deal with. This is a much surer way of making sure you vanish, and _don’t_ come back.”

She lifts the sword again, and begins tracing glowing exit symbols in the air with it. The designs are vaguely familiar, but that’s not why Aiden stares in surprise. “Wait, I thought…I thought only Primes could open gates…”

Giselle pauses in her drawing to glance over at him with an arrogant smile. “Who told you that?”

“Essa.” he replies, feeling mildly stupid as the grin stretches again.

“And who do you think told _her_?”

Of course it was her. Had she ever told them the truth about anything?

The gate opens with a dramatic slash of her sword and the sound of a sizzling flash. She stands back, gesturing towards the shimmering white abyss. “Go ahead.”

He hesitates. He’d never admit it, to anyone, but he’s downright terrified. He doesn’t know where that gate leads, what kind of strange hell she might be sending him to. “Where does it lead?” he asks staunchly.

“One way to find out.” is her simple reply. “Go now, or I’ll change my mind about killing you.”

Despite this, Aiden remains still. This is all so abrupt, he doesn’t know what to think.

He won’t even get to say goodbye to Essa.

“I’d never root for those Primes for anything, but I hope they kill you.” he snaps.

“Understandable. Now _go_.” she orders, tilting the blade towards him threateningly.

Aiden steps towards the gate, then pauses to lift his bandana over his mouth from its place around his neck. The auburn-haired woman shoots another serious glare at him, and he pulls in as deep a breath as he can manage.

He knows he could easily be walking directly into his doom, but he forces himself to take another step, and then another. His head is a mess of emotions.

He’s furious at Giselle, furious at Essa for trusting her, and even more furious at himself for not sooner realizing what was going on.   
His heart is devastatingly heavy. It’s so impossibly painful, to have everything yanked away when he knows Essa is so close to succeeding. He can’t imagine how Essa is going to feel when she realizes Giselle’s betrayal.

_It could easily kill her,_ he realizes. _When she finds out that I’m gone and her other closest friend has had ulterior motives from the start, the overwhelming shock, horror, and defeat might actually finish her off. _

“Stop STALLING!” Giselle hisses, and swings the sword towards him. He dodges, but doesn’t do anything more. She’s got him cornered and could easily kill him if he even thought about fighting back.

“Fuck off.” he murmurs angrily, his voice slightly muffled by the bandana. “And have fun rotting in hell.”

With that, he strides forward with mock confidence, disappearing instantly into the brilliant void.

_“I’m sorry, Essa._” he whispers, low enough that Giselle doesn’t hear him. He doesn’t know what awaits him on the other side, but he knows that, at this point, all he can do is pray that someone will be able to stop her before it’s too late.

Giselle lowers the sword as soon as he vanishes. He’s not in any immediate danger in her ‘control’ timeline, but he won’t be able to get out without help from a Prime. And since there _is_ no Prime in that dimension…it’s an absolutely perfect prison.

The gate closes, and she tucks the sword in her inventory and settles triumphantly behind her desk. And to think- with all that, she didn’t even tell him much of her real plan. A satisfied smile slowly reaches across her face, and she bites at her lower lip to try to contain it.

Everything is finally coming together. She’s been controlling the game for a long time now, and it’s indescribably wonderful to finally begin seeing the bounty of all her hard work.

Everything is coming together, and she doesn’t have much longer to wait. 

_Watch out, little Primes. You think you’ve got it together, but you have no idea what’s coming. _

_You’ll never know what hit you. _


	33. Divergent Equivalents

The treasure room of the Order Hall slowly formed around me, midmorning sunlight streaming through the windows. Julia appeared right behind me, glancing idly around.

I didn’t know what we were going to tell the others. How was I supposed to break the dreadful news of our failure when I hadn’t even fully come to grips with it yet?

Every new failure was taking a bigger toll on me. After seeing what had happened to Jo, I no longer felt the least bit sure that we’d honestly be able to win this fight.

I felt tired already just from the thought of having to search Beacontown for Lukas and Radar. I needed to tell them what had happened, of course, but I was getting sick of the repetitive pattern we’d fallen into. 

Luckily for me, it was simpler than that. Aiden came suddenly hurrying into the room, seeming like he’d come from the direction of the library. “Oh, thank god, you’re finally back. I _thought_ I heard that weird gate noise.”

“Where are the others?” Julia immediately asked.

“Out dealing with a…situation. We’ve been making sure at least one of us is here at all times, since we knew this was the place you were most likely to come back to. Things have gotten fucking _wild_; you won’t believe it.” he said.

Before I could ask what exactly that meant, he gestured out towards the town, already backing up. “I’ll go grab Lukas and Radar. They’re going to freak when they hear you’re finally back.”

“Wait, _finally?”_ I echoed, but he’d already turned away and was headed towards the doors.

Julia looked at me. “How long were we gone?” she asked in a low voice.

“I don’t know. But based on that reaction, I’d say longer than they expected us to be.” I replied, a little apprehensively.

She glanced over at the tall window that looked out to the mountains, and did a double take. “Whoa…Jess, look at the _sky!”_

I turned, and felt my mouth fall open in shock. Through the light-blue stained glass, the sky was an ominous greenish colour, mixed with shades of yellow and blue. It reminded me of how the In-Between looked, albeit with a different colour scheme.

“That can’t mean anything good.” I muttered.

“No kidding.” Julia huffed. “Do you think Jo’s death caused that? Or something else?”

I studied it for a moment more, still sort of hoping I was seeing things. “I’d say Jo is a pretty good guess. I can’t imagine that a Prime’s death _wouldn’t_ have any ridiculous consequences.”

The doors to the building slammed open, and Radar darted into the treasure hall with Lukas and Aiden right behind him.

“JESS!” Radar exclaimed. “What on earth happened?! Where have you guys been?”

“Please, _please_ tell me you failed. Look at me right now and tell me the timelines aren’t fixed.” Lukas said at the same time.

Julia gave him a funny look. “Why?”

“Because,” he started impatiently, “if you honestly removed the missing constant and things still look like this, that would be _far worse_ than a flat-out failure.”

“Wait. Back up. How long have we been gone?” I asked.

“Almost a week. This is the sixth day.” Aiden informed us. “Though things only started getting _really_ wild about three, maybe four days ago.”

Julia sputtered for a few moments. “Wh…y-you…WHAT?! _Six days_?!” she shouted.

“It didn’t even seem like we’d been gone ONE day!” I added. “How on earth…?”

Lukas crossed his arms, looking vaguely mad. “You tell us. What happened there?”

Julia reached up to pull on the braided bit of hair in front of her ear. “God, where do we start?”

“We _did_ fail, and even worse than any of us could’ve expected.” I started. “We found Jacek and Jo, and formed a plan quickly enough. It all went well at first. We lured Essa back to the In-Between, and Julia trapped her in obsidian…but she broke out.” 

“_Broke out?”_ Aiden echoed, wide-eyed. “How?!”

Julia tugged her braid again. “I don’t know! I had my _full_ Admin powers focused on her, and she brushed them aside like I wasn’t doing a thing! She just…the obsidian suddenly cracked and blew apart, and she disappeared! I have no idea what happened!”

“Whoa...” Radar breathed. 

Lukas pointed a finger at her. “No. No way. There’s gotta be some unseen variable, or something you’re not telling us. She could _not_ have just…overpowered an Admin. That’s not possible.”

“It’s the truth. I saw it, and I still don’t know what happened.” I told him. “It makes no sense.”

Lukas continued giving Julia a suspicious look, as Aiden said, “Well, _none_ of this makes any sense, so I’m sure there’s gotta be some twisted explanation. Did she…say or do anything before that that seemed suspicious?”

Julia snorted. “She was nothing _but_ suspicious, the entire time! You should’ve seen her, it was insane. She was being so smug and au fait, even when I trapped her in the obsidian! Like she was controlling _us_ the entire time.”

“She did…right before she went back to the newest timeline, she was doing this whole little villain monologue thing., and she said something along the lines of, ‘you’re more powerful and I’m outnumbered, but you’re forgetting that _I’m_ a Primum Movens’.” I remembered thoughtfully.

“Aren’t you…all Primum Movens, though? Primes?” Radar checked.

I nodded. “Yeah, of course. But the way she said it kinda made me think…I don’t know, that she meant something else?”

“What else could that possibly mean?” Aiden asked in disbelief.

Radar chewed his lower lip for a moment, then said, “You _are_ all Primes, but she is different. She knows a lot more than any of us, remember? So maybe she…I don’t know, managed to siphon power from the timelines or the In-Between and into herself. It would make sense that Primes are the most powerful in the In-Between, right?”

“Hm.” Lukas grunted disdainfully. Radar shot him a look. “I’m just speculating, okay?”

“I…guess that makes sense. It’s logical enough to peg it as that for now.” Julia said. “But that wasn’t even the worst part. What she did…”

Her voice dwindled away. I sighed slowly and said simply, “She killed Jo.”

Lukas and Radar stared at me in horror. “She _what?!”_

“She…she reappeared behind Jo, and just…stabbed her through. It happened way too fast for us to do anything.” I said heavily, deciding to spare them the gory details.

Julia looked over at Aiden, who seemed just as shocked but not as horrified. He hadn’t actually met Jo, so this was understandable. “Remember what you were saying, way back when we were still thinking of how to find out more about Essa’s timeline? You were right: killing a Prime destroys their entire timeline. It’s…it’s all gone.”

“Holy fuck.” Aiden murmured. “That’s…god, I don’t even know. Nightmarish.”

“So now…we’re kind of at a loss. With Jo dead and all our plans in the dust…we don’t know what else to do. We _have_ to defeat Essa, but there just isn’t a clear way how. Or even a murky one, at that.” I said.

Lukas and Radar exchanged a knowing look. This did _not_ escape me or Julia, who dubiously said, “So, what exactly happened here? You said it had gotten kind of wild, but what does that mean?”

Aiden let out a deep breath. “Good, we’re _finally_ talking about this! I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to keep my mouth shut.”

This didn’t sound good. “What happened?” I repeated.

Another glance passed between Radar and Lukas. “You can start.” Lukas said.

“Shiny. Okay, so remember how we said you’ve been gone for six days? And that things started to get crazy on around the third?” Radar started.

“Yeah, ‘course.” Julia replied.

“Now I realize it was probably Jo’s death that triggered everything, but at the time I didn’t know. So far, our timeline had been fairly chill as far as ‘screwed-up reality’ went- time was a _little_ funny, but not too bad.” he continued.

Aiden interrupted there. “Then, on the second night after you guys disappeared, there was a GIANT earthquake! I’m _not_ kidding, it was huge! Everything shook for at least a minute and a half, maybe two full.”

“It really _shook_ us all up.” Radar grinned mischievously. Lukas reached over and bopped him on the head. “Don’t start with that right now.” 

“Anyways. When it stopped, that’s when everything started getting weird- and I mean _everything_. Mobs were all going loony, time started slipping, and the freakin’ sky turned green! We figured something big had probably just happened to the timelines, but no one _else_ knew that. Everyone was freaking the fuck out, it was chaos.” Aiden continued breathlessly.

Lukas started making large gestures with his hands as he picked up where Aiden had left off. “Everything went downhill from there. I can’t get _any_ clocks or compasses to work, even newly-crafted ones. Small events keep repeating, like some kind of twisted déjà-vu. And last night, an entire building collapsed for absolutely no reason. Nothing broke it or even damaged it in anyway- it just fell apart. That’s actually what Radar and I were checking out when you two showed up.”

I closed my eyes. This just kept getting worse and worse.

“Oh, and remember how this all started, with that map that appeared out of nowhere?” Lukas asked. “It keeps happening. Shit keeps randomly appearing and disappearing, it’s so annoying.” 

“And the weirdest thing to happen so far- aside from the green sky -is this weird…I don’t know how to explain it other than just _lag_.” Radar began as he reached up to adjust his glasses. “It’s like time sort of slows down sometimes- you’re still thinking normally, but everything goes in slow motion for a few seconds. Even worse is when things _completely_ freeze, and then it all catches up super-fast. It’s bizarre.” 

Julia turned away, twining her fingers through her hair. “Oh, this is _so bad_. We are _right on the edge_ of complete chaos, you guys realize that, right? We need to fix this, _right now_, before we’re no longer able to.”

“Julie, we _know_.” I snapped, my voice coming out harsher than I intended. “We know it’s bad. We know we need to put things right, and we know what we need to do to accomplish that. We know too much, if I’m being honest. The only thing we don’t seem to know is _how_ we’re actually going to pull that off!”

“Actually…we _may_ have a bit more of an advantage than you guys think.” Lukas put in. “There’s something else that happened while you were gone.”

I whipped around to stare at him. “What? Why the hell didn’t you _start_ with that?”

He shrugged. “I figured it was better to build up to it.”

“So? What happened?” Julia pressed.

“We got a…_visitor_.” Radar hedged. “Yesterday, this woman came striding out of nowhere, insisting on speaking with us. She would’ve rather gotten to you directly, but she apparently decided we were as good as she was going to get. She knew about the timelines, and had some…very _interesting_ things to say about Essa’s plan.”

An idea of who he was talking about was already forming in my brain even before Lukas said, “It took us a minute to recognize her, since her hair was bright magenta instead of brown…but I think you know who it was.”

“_Giselle?!”_ Julia exclaimed. “Here, now?! You’re kidding!”

“Nope.” Aiden said crisply. “It was her.”

“And you will not _believe_ the things she told us. This lady is fucking _twisted_.” Lukas added. “She knows a _lot_ about the timelines. She’s teamed up with Essa in that dimension, but get this: Giselle is working with the versions of _herself_ from other timelines.”

My mouth fell open in shock. “She WHAT?!”

“Trust me, I said the same thing.” Radar replied. “But it’s true. She wants to get her Admin powers back, so once Essa starts her whole turning-back-time thing, Giselle’s going to double-cross her and switch back time far enough to defeat the other Admins! And once she’s accomplished that, she’s going to _make sure the Primes never spawn!_ With you guys out of the way, she’ll have full control over the universe!”

Julia held up her hands in a ‘stop’ motion. “Wait. Back up. What does her planning to betray Essa have to do with her working with…the other hers?”

“How do you think she knows so much, about everything? She’s gained different information in every timeline, and used it against, well, _everyone_. The different Giselles all had different roles in the grand scheme, like how the her of your timeline imprisoned Ivor, and the her of Essa’s timeline tried to kill you in the In-Between.” Lukas told her. “She…they…originally wanted to keep you two and the rest of the Primes completely out of the picture, but obviously didn’t succeed.”

“But the important bit is that she’s going to betray Essa, and Essa doesn’t know. We’re finally one step ahead, and we can use that against _both_ of them.” Aiden pointed out. “Personally, I think we should flat-out tell Essa that Giselle is going to double-cross her. Their alliance will be wrecked, and we can stop them _both_ from continuing to mess with the timelines. From the way she said it, Giselle needs a Prime to actually turn back time, so if Essa turns against her, she won’t be able to do anything.”

Radar frowned. “I agree…but I think we’d need actual proof of Giselle’s betrayal for that to work. I’d already kind of been thinking about that, but Essa clearly trusts her a lot, and we can’t count on it being easy to convince her.”

I suddenly realized something, and gestured uncertainly between the three of them. “Hold on. How the hell do you know all this? Giselle wouldn’t have just _told_ you. I mean, I already knew she was a weasel, but I don’t think she’d betray _herself_.”

Aiden nodded. “Trust me, I thought the same thing. But that’s what happened.”

“Well…there _is_ a little more to it than just that.” Lukas said, shooting his boyfriend a gently stern look. “She told us a little more about the timelines as well; we can give you the details later. But what I think is the most important piece of information is exactly _how_ the timelines are being disrupted. We’ve all been operating under the assumption that they’re becoming too different- the deviations and variables getting out of control. That’s not the case. According to Giselle, they’re all _supposed_ to be different, especially this one and Essa’s. Each Prime is living through the same events, but they all do things differently. So it’s not a problem that, say, you saved Petra from the Witherstorm, and Julia didn’t. The _problem_ is that things are being twisted out of what the ‘story’ of the timelines is supposed to be, like Essa’s friends being dead, or Jacek’s timeline being paused, or…Jo being dead.”

Radar cut in here. “And here’s the _really_ interesting thing about specifically our timeline and Essa’s. They’re more than just different, actually: they’re perfect opposites.”

“_What_?” Julia asked, rubbing her forehead. She seemed like she was starting to get lost.

“How she said it…is that there are a lot of forces in our universe that perfectly align. Day and night, life and death, balance and chaos, light and darkness, et cetera. And the two ‘original’ timelines, ours and Essa’s, fit right into that pattern. So one of them represents the ‘bad’ stuff, and the other represents the ‘good’.” Lukas continued, giving me a meaningful smile. 

I gestured to him. “So _that’s_ why so many people died in Essa’s reality? They were claimed by death, because she _represents_ death.”

“Even more…that’s why you’ve been so frustrated and hopeless lately.” Lukas told me. “Things are being all messed up, and the order of the universe is out of balance. Since you’re an original Prime, it affects you the most. Jess, _you_ represent the light and goodness in this dimension. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s apparently just a fact. So your whole problem of doubting yourself and beating yourself up over choices you can’t fix…it’s not because you’re a great cosmic failure. It’s just because reality’s a mess- _it’s not your fault_.”

I was silent for a few moments, processing this. Things were slowly starting to make sense, in a strange sort of way. Of course the two ‘original’ timelines were linked. Everything _else_ was, after all. 

But…even if this heavy feeling of hopelessness _was_ just because of the timelines…did that mean it wasn’t real? Did that somehow imply that letting the Order fall apart _hadn’t_ been a mistake? Because it sure felt like one.

Julia asked something else, but I wasn’t paying much attention. What exactly did this mean, Essa and I being opposites? How else did it affect us? And even more…why hadn’t we heard about this before?

This _had_ to have some sort of significance with everything else, I just knew it. But why hadn’t we come across something about this earlier? We’d learned a lot about the timelines- how was it possible that we didn’t know anything about the significance of the two ‘originals’?

I didn’t like this.

“Hold on.” I said, interrupting Radar. “You still didn’t say why Giselle told you all this. I’m still not convinced she would do this simply out of the kindness of her heart, and I’m not about to trust her after hearing her whole history. What’s her motive?”

Lukas and Radar exchanged yet another look. “Honestly…we’re not fully sure. We thought the same thing, but…she seemed like she was being honest. She said that the price of power didn’t seem worth it anymore, and that she wanted to at least try to do something good with all her knowledge.” Lukas explained. “I know it sounds iffy how we’re saying it, but you should’ve seen her. She was really anxious about the other versions of her finding out, and kept saying she wouldn’t let it be too late. Whatever that means.”

“It could be a ploy, though. I don’t trust her.” Julia said, crossing her arms.

“As far as I’m concerned, none of this matters.” Aiden put in. I glanced over at him, unsure of what he was getting at. “Yeah, maybe we know a little more than we did before. But the goal is still the same- remove the missing constant, and get reality back to fucking normal already. We can use Giselle’s ulterior motives to turn her and Essa against each other, but from what I’m hearing, we still need a plan to actually do that.”

Julia began pacing. “Whatever we do, we need to be careful about it. It would be catastrophic if either Jess or I got killed, since that would destroy our entire timelines. We’d like to avoid killing Essa for now for the same reason, but I’d be willing to if it came to that. She’s too smart to be tricked, so we’d need to have some other way of getting her into the In-Between…or we could head into that new timeline and try to take her down there. And we still need to…get rid of…her Reuben somehow…”

She paused, hands falling at her sides. “I…yeah, I don’t know what to do.”

“The only thing I can think of would be to try to stop her right as she’s trying to turn back time. Giselle said she needed to be in the In-Between to do that, so no trickery would be necessary. But…that might be cutting it a little too close.” Radar said.

Lukas snorted. “That would be cutting it _way_ too close. We need to deal with her _before_ they stop the Witherstorm, or we’ll be dealing with two missing constants instead of one.”

Aiden’s eyes suddenly widened, and he covered his mouth with one hand. “Wait…oh, shit. Do we know if that timeline is moving at the same speed as ours? Because you guys have been gone for a while…and if that one goes faster than ours, it might already be too late.”

“No. _No_. I refuse to believe that.” Julia said staunchly. “There’s no way.”

“Uh…why not?” Aiden replied, a little nervously.

Julia shook her head. “Because if there was suddenly a second missing constant, things would already be even worse. There would’ve been another big event like when Jo died, like the sky being green or that big earthquake you guys mentioned. That’s too major to _not_ fuck up things even more.” 

“Hm.” was all Aiden said in reply.

“So then…what do we do?” Radar asked anxiously. “We’re running out of time. We have too much information, and not enough knowledge of what to do with it.”

I pressed the heels of my hands against my closed eyes. I didn’t want to say it aloud, but this seemed impossible. Not just improbable, but fully _impossible_.

There was too much to do, with too-high stakes and too little time. The closest we could get would be an all-or-nothing battle when it was already probably too late, in which either my timeline or Julia’s could end up erased forever.

“Jess, you’re probably the closest to this of all of us. What do you think?” Lukas asked.

I gritted my teeth and stayed silent, my brain spiraling through dark loops. This wasn’t possible. We couldn’t do this.

It was Radar who spoke up next. “Jess? Are you alright? What should we do?”

I tore my hands away from my face, roaring, “I DON’T KNOW!”

Radar took a step back, looking shocked.

“I don’t know what to do, Radar! I don’t know how to fix this! I’m not, nor have ever been, an end-all solution! This whole situation is WEIRD and CONFUSING and IMPOSSIBLE, and as much as I know you want me to, I DON’T HAVE AN ANSWER!”

The others stared at me with surprised eyes. I slouched, my anger already draining down into defeated frustration. “I’m just a person. I don’t care if I’m supposed to be some strange phenomenon who’s magically connected to the timelines. I’m still a person, and I’m getting tired of this. I don’t have a plan; I can’t think of a way out. Essa has us trapped, and we are completely out of ‘get out of jail free’ cards. _I don’t know what to do._”

“Jess…” Lukas started softly, reaching out to lay a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. We don’t expect you to have the answer to everything.”

I brushed his hand away. “But you _do!_ Every problem that comes up, I’m supposed to solve it. It’s always ‘you’ve got a plan, right?’. Or ‘if anyone can fix this, it’s you’, ‘what do we do here, Jess?’, et-fucking-cetera. Well congratulations- I’ve finally gotten myself into a situation that I can’t just _hero_ my way out of.”

I sighed slowly, trying to let go of the irritation. “I’m sorry. I…I know we _have_ to fix this. I know what’s at stake. I’m just not sure we have the ability to.”

“B-but…we’re the heroes, right? We’re supposed to be able to fix this.” Radar said in a small voice.

Aiden gave him a complicated look. “Think about it, kid. We may not agree, but I’m sure Essa thinks the same way about herself.” His voice dropped to a guilty mutter. “I know I did.”

“Jess, it’s okay. I feel the same way.” Julia said sympathetically. “This is a lot of pressure, and you’re right, it does seem impossible.”

“Seem?” I echoed, arching a brow at her.

She nodded. “Yeah. But that doesn’t mean it _is_. We’ll figure something out. Radar’s right: we’ve always succeeded in the past, and we can succeed here, too.”

I still wasn’t entirely convinced, but I chose to nod simply instead of continuing the argument. “Alright. Fine. We just…need to keep trying, I guess.”

“Good.” said Lukas. “In the meantime, you should probably come check out what’s happened to Beacontown in the time you’ve been gone. Like we said, a lot has happened.”

I numbly agreed, and followed him, Aiden, and Radar hesitantly out to the town. I didn’t really want to see what-all had gone wrong, but I knew I had to.

Right as we were leaving the Hall, an idea suddenly struck. I nearly tripped over my own feet, a plan already forming in my mind. Admittedly, it was only half a plan, but it was _something._

It was risky, and none of the others would approve. It might fail miserably right from the start.

But if it worked, I might be able to turn everything around.


	34. Musing Through Memories

Jasper doesn’t fully know what to expect from the End, so he’s somewhere between surprised and indifferent when his feet hit the pale-yellow end stone.

He straightens up and looks around, eyes widening as he takes in the strange obsidian shapes springing up from the ground. It’s dark, the kind of dark that presses down on your eyes like a tangible thing, but his vision is gradually adjusting.

“Whoa…” he murmurs softly.

There’s a strange noise, and Lukas appears nearby, holding the amulet. He mimics Jasper’s motion, staring curiously around. “Oh. Great. It just keeps getting better.” he grumbles. 

Olivia and Reuben appear next, then Essa. The tall woman doesn’t seem nearly as shaken up as the others, simply brushing herself off as she glances calmly around. She’s impossibly composed, which helps Jasper keep his cool in tense situations as well.

He’s noticed that she hasn’t been as talkative as when they first met, preferring to observe and follow rather than say too much of her own. This is helpful, actually, since the others seem to be good enough at starting fights on their own. 

Petra has just materialized as well when Olivia asks, “Where’s Axel? He was right behind me.”

As if saying her saying this has magically summoned him, Axel suddenly appears in midair, landing on Lukas with a “Whoo!”. The amulet flies out of Lukas’s hand, rolling over the end stone. Jasper goes over to pick it up as Axel says, “Ha! See, I told you I’d pay you back.” 

“Get _off._” Lukas snaps, pushing the larger boy away. He glances away, and suddenly gasps. “Oh…oh, jeez.”

He continues whimpering, covering his eyes. Jasper pauses, unsure of what’s going on. “…Stop crying.”

“What? No, I’m not crying, just _look_!” Lukas returns quickly.

Essa glances over her shoulder at where Lukas is indicating, then looks away just as fast. “Actually, don’t.”

Jasper looks the same way, to see a tall, unstoppably eerie Enderman strolling past like it owns the place. Which he supposes it does.

_“Hide!”_ he murmurs. The others quickly shield their eyes as well, hoping against hope it won’t decide to come after them. Are Endermen more hostile on their home turf? With a chill, Jasper realizes he doesn’t know.

“We should move.” Essa whispers. She leads the way towards one of the tall black structures, hiding in the shadows.

Lukas peers out from around it. “So, what do we call that? A _herd_ of Endermen? A flock?”

“A ‘haunting’ of Endermen, I think.” Jasper puts in haughtily.

“We _might_ wanna hold off on the grammar lessons until later.” Olivia snarks. Jasper sighs inwardly.

Essa looks around again, then asks, “Which way are we headed, Jasper?”

He retrieves the amulet from his inventory, and the white bit glows brightly for a second before flickering and going dim. Frowning, Jasper shakes it a few times, with no result.

“Stuff like that doesn’t work in the Nether- probably not the End, either.” Petra contributes. Jasper glances over at her as she says this, and almost immediately wishes he didn’t. She looks so bad, her skin and eyes discoloured beyond belief. The Withersickness is hitting her hard, and it makes him feel ill to know she may not be able to hold on for much longer.

Lukas lets out a sarcastic laugh. “Great. Whoo, man. So we were trapped, and now we’re lost. So we go from, uh…a death machine, that almost drowns us, and we land here. In the _End_.”

His voice is sarcastic, almost mocking, and Jasper’s frustration rises. “Are you saying we should’ve stayed?”

“No. I’m saying we should’ve known where we were headed before we left.” The blond boy continues tartly.

“We do know where we’re going. Towards Soren.” Jasper counters bluntly. Lukas just glares.

Petra cautiously steps between them. “That’s enough.” she says firmly.

Lukas sighs, sounding a strange mix between tired and irritated. “Face it, Jasper. We might never find this guy.”

“There he is.” Axel interjects suddenly, pointing. Jasper turns, for the first time noticing a tall staircase leading up to an unknown. It’s built with very few supports, and looks like it would be a great pain to climb.

And yet, marching easily up those stairs, is a vaguely familiar man with fluffy orange hair that’s noticeable even from their considerable distance. 

“Did…that just happen? I can’t believe that just happened.” Lukas mutters, seeming like he’s mostly talking to himself. 

Jasper gives him a pointed look, gesturing to the towering staircase. “See? _That’s_ where we’re headed.”

“That’s got to be him.” Petra agrees.

Soren disappears from view, heading into the dark shape that the stairs lead into. “We’ve gotta go!” Jasper implores.

“Everyone, follow me.” Petra orders, stepping to the head of the group. “I’ll get us to the other side. Just stay behind me, and we’ll…we’ll be fine.”

A fit of coughing interrupts her words, and Jasper pauses. The thought of leading the way through the ominous black shapes and scattered Endermen is a daunting one, but he’s not sure that his ailing friend is up for the task, either.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Essa says gently.

The others hesitate for a moment. Olivia gives Jasper an encouraging look, but it’s Lukas who speaks up. “Actually, you know what? I’ll just go.”

He strides confidently forward. Jasper doesn’t move, their recent argument spinning through his mind, and Lukas glances partially over his shoulder. “Give me a chance.” he says quietly.

“Okay. We’ll follow you.” Essa agrees before Jasper can make a decision. Lukas gives her a gratified smile. “And let’s try to pick up the pace, okay? I’d rather not be around these Endermen any longer than necessary.” she murmurs through a slight shudder.

Jasper trails behind them, his arm covering his eyes and Reuben hurrying at his heels. He agrees with Essa- this place is way, _way_ too creepy to just be hanging around in. But he’s not sure if he’s willing to so easily hand power over to Lukas.

The Endermen make ominous chittering noises as he passes, and Jasper tries to hurry by as quickly as he can. Ahead of him, Lukas and Essa have already stopped near the base of the stairs.

The tall black monsters seem to be avoiding the light, which is immensely relieving. Jasper brings his arm away from his face, watching as the others dash over as well.

“Nice moves back there, Lukas.” Petra says. 

He smiles, blushing ever so slightly. “Thanks.”

Jasper gives them both a knowing look. It seems impossible that they can be so perfectly oblivious of their mutual crush, but here they are. 

Essa has stepped forward, examining the bedrock-surrounded End portal. She brushes her fingers along the top of one of the black-streaked blocks, looking down into the blank void of the portal. A strange expression crosses her face, and Jasper kind of wishes he could ask what she’s thinking.

He doesn’t, though, instead leading the way to the base of the steps. “Let’s go.” he prompts, beginning the climb.

He’s already slightly out of breath just by the first turn in the stairway. He’s just not used to this much exertion- the last few days have been nothing but action, and it’s taking a toll on him. Almost all of them seem a little winded, and there’s still so much more to go.

“I hope that someday I love something as much as Soren seems to love stairs.” Axel grumbles.

The stairs go on and on and on, further and further into the dark sky of the End. They’re layered in such a way that it’s hard to tell how much farther they have to go, which is more than a little disheartening.

“Jasper…can you give me a sec?” Petra asks quietly from behind him.

He turns as soon as he hears his name, seeing her lagging more than a little way behind. “Need a hand?” he offers gently.

“No…no, I can manage, thanks.” she replies quickly, though she doesn’t sound overly confident. He gives her a concerned, ‘are-you-sure’ kind of look, and she tries to smile. “Really, I’m fine.”

Another moment passes, and she straightens her shoulders. “I’m good, I’m good. We can keep moving.”

Jasper turns back around to see Lukas waiting just a few steps ahead, wearing a dubious expression. He doesn’t say anything as Jasper passes him, but he can feel the other boy’s blue eyes trained on him as he goes ahead. 

He already knows that Lukas is suspicious of Petra’s condition, and for good reason. He just hopes that Petra will tell him herself, instead of Jasper having to do it. Things between him and Lukas are tense enough as is.

Jasper makes it to the next landing, where Axel and Olivia are sprawled out, both trying to catch their breath. Essa is waiting there as well, bent over with her hands on her knees as she sighs, “Does this _ever_ end? My legs are _dying_.”

“So many stairs…” Olivia complains.

Jasper looks up to the next flight of stairs, noticing that their destination is finally almost within reach. “There’s a…ladder.”

“It better not be a long one.” Axel contributes bitterly.

Jasper hurries up the stairs, trying to peer up to see where it leads. All he can see is a trapdoor, with faint light shining through the gaps.

“Whatever this is, looks like that’s the way in.” Petra says.

Essa gently brushes past Jasper, lifting a foot onto the first rung. “Here goes.”

Jasper tries not to let his expression betray how glad he is that he’s not being expected to go first. He doesn’t mind being the technical ‘leader’ of their little group, but he wishes more of the others would step up sometimes. Well, Lukas is sort of trying, but he doesn’t seem to get that he can be helpful without taking over.

At the top of the ladder, Essa pushes the trapdoor open and disappears from view. There’s nothing but silence, which is more than a little unnerving.

“Essa?” he calls up.

“What do you see?” Lukas asks at the same time.

“_Please_ don’t say more stairs.” Petra implores, sounding downright miserable.

Jasper takes ahold of the ladder, beginning to pull himself up right as Essa’s voice echoes down. “I think I must be…seeing things. There’s something weird going on.” 

Not liking the sound of this, Jasper follows her as quickly as he can. He emerges into sudden light, blinking against the unexpected brightness.

It’s like he’s in an entirely different world. It takes his eyes a moment to adjust, and in that moment, he sees a perfect little scene from the top of a small hill. Trees, grass, and a picturesque creek flowing through it all. A massive wooden fountain stands on the far side of the creek, water flowing swiftly from the top.

As he looks closer, he realizes that there’s something vaguely _off_ about the whole thing. There’s something wrong with the texture of the entire place, but he’s not sure what exactly it is.

Lukas is right behind him, clambering out of the trapdoor as Jasper begins making his way down the rise. “So bright…”

The others quickly follow, though Jasper is still looking intently around at the strange place. Essa is frowning, looking uncertainly down at the red mushrooms that dot the ground.

Jasper shields his eyes to look up at the sky, when he hears Axel shout. He turns around just in time to see the larger boy trip and crash into Lukas again, sending them both to the ground.

“That’s my body, Axel. My broken, battered body.” Lukas says in a very defeated-sounding voice. This is at least the third time it’s happened in the span of just a few hours.

“Hang on a second.” Essa suddenly calls, regaining Jasper’s attention. “Guys, it’s made of _wool!_ The trees, the grass…it’s all _wool!”_

_“What?_” Jasper gasps. He reaches out to touch a nearby ‘tree’ and sees that she’s right. The bright light had confused his eyes at first, but there’s no mistaking it now.

Lukas picks up a green block. “You’re telling me we’ve been resting all our hopes on this guy, and the entire time he’s been building some…totally artificial Happyland?!”

“Well…it’s real wool.” Axel says.

“It’s real evidence that Soren is whacked.” Lukas shoots back.

Jasper glances around again. “Could it be that he just…missed home?” he guesses, wondering what could possibly validate this.

Lukas snorts. “If you miss home, you go and visit. You don’t build an exact replica.”

“Yeah, you’ve got a point there. Anyone who does something like _this_ can’t be all there.” Essa comments.

The blond boy doesn’t seem to hear her. “We came here for _nothing_!” he snaps, tossing away the block in his hand and stomping off. “What are we even supposed to do now?!”

“What’s the matter with you?” Jasper asks, his voice coming out a little more hostile than he intended. 

Lukas doesn’t even look at him. “Just look around, Jasper! If the ‘greatest builder of all time’ has spent years working on _this_, what are the chances he’s even gonna have that bomb, huh?! I’ve had enough crazy for one day.”

The others watch him stalk off, still taken aback by the sudden outburst.

“What’s his problem?” Petra asks honestly. “He seems pretty upset.” 

Jasper sighs. “I don’t know.” He doesn’t want to flat-out say that Lukas is probably just worried about _her_ and freaking out over it, but he’s certainly thinking it.

The group slowly disperses. Axel and Olivia head off in more or less the same direction as Lukas did, though they’re careful to avoid him. Petra slumps against a nearby ‘tree’, looking tired, and Essa walks in the opposite direction, seeming like she’s trying to figure out the boundaries of the place.

Jasper looks around in dismay. There’s not a clear exit, and he’s not sure if he can find one without help. He suddenly notices a pattern of lit-up Redstone lamps set high in one of the walls, though they blink and turn off almost as soon as he sees them.

_There’s not much point in even trying to get out if we’re all separated like this,_ Jasper realizes. He turns and walks over to Petra, who gives him a noncommittal “Hey, Jas.”

“Hey. How do you think Soren managed to get out of here without leaving _any_ clues behind?” he asks cautiously. He wants to know how she’s feeling, but at the same time is a little too afraid to ask.

She shrugs, straightening up slightly. “He _is_ the greatest builder of all time. If anyone knew how to put in the secretest of secret doors, it’s him.”

Jasper sighs again. “That’s encouraging. So I’m probably looking for…”

“Well, to open a secret door, you need a secret mechanism. Maybe you should ask Olivia for help.” she suggests.

“Probably a good idea.” he admits. “In that case, I guess I’m gonna keep looking around.”

Petra leans back against the wool structure. “Look away.”

Instead of heading over to Olivia, though, Jasper looks around for Essa. On the other side of the strange room is another small wool hill like the one they came out of, and the tall woman is standing on top of it, her hands planted on her hips as she surveys the area.

Jasper heads over to her, and she meets him partway. “Hey, Essa. Have you found anything useful?”

She cringes slightly when he says the last word, then shakes her head. “Not particularly. I was hoping there’d be a hidden door or something back here, but…nothing. It’s terribly frustrating.”

Jasper runs a hand through his auburn hair. “I just don’t know what to _do_. Everyone’s kind of tense, so we’re not working together, and I can’t find a single clue on how to get out of here!”

“Well, we _could_ just mine through the wool…but I’m not sure how much good that would do if we don’t know what’s on the other side.” Essa muses. “I also think it’d be smarter to pull the group back together _before_ moving onwards. Morale seems pretty low right now.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not totally sure _how_, though.” Jasper says quietly. “Lukas seemed pretty upset. I’m a little afraid that anything I say will just make it worse.”

Essa smiles gently, reaching over to touch his shoulder. “How ‘bout this? You talk to Axel and Olivia, and try to find the way out, and I’ll deal with Lukas. That way we can keep moving forward, without causing any more damage to the team.” she suggests kindly.

Jasper lets himself relax, thinking again how glad he is that she’s here. “Right. Thanks, Essa. You’re the best.”

“Thank me _after_ we get out of here.” she says in reply, with a slightly mischievous wink. She strides off towards Lukas, and Jasper heads towards Axel and Olivia with a new boost of confidence.

“What’s up, Jasper?” Axel asks.

“Trying to find a way out of here. I need you guys’s help. If we can just _find_ the secret door, I know it’s gotta open.” he summarizes quickly.

Olivia nods towards a button that sticks noticeably out of the wall behind them, the same wall that the darkened Redstone lamps are attached to. “Well, there’s _that_, but it doesn’t seem to do anything.”

“Then I guess we just have to find something that will _make_ it do something. I’ve got a weird feeling about those lights up there- they were on when we came in, but they turned off. I think they might have something to do with the hidden door.” Jasper says.

“Smart. We should split up and search the place until we find something.” Olivia suggests.

Axel sighs. “_More_ puzzle solving and searching for things?”

“Do you have a better idea?” Olivia counters.

Axel looks ready to keep arguing, but Jasper doesn’t let him. “Good idea, Liv. Holler if you find anything.”

They start off in different directions- Olivia goes back towards Petra and where they got in, Axel heads over to investigate the fountain, and Jasper continues searching along the wall. There’s nothing immediately obvious, but when he leans close to the blue wool, he swears he can hear faint music.

Then he notices a lever attached to the trunks of one of the ‘trees’. It’s mostly hidden in shadow, and would probably have gone completely unseen if he wasn’t already on high alert.

He wastes no time in flipping the lever, and is rewarded by the center of the lamp pattern turning on. “Cool! Guys, we’re looking for levers!” he calls to the others.

“Got it.” Axel replies.

Jasper glances over at Lukas and Essa. The blond boy is sitting slumped against one of the green wool blocks scattered around, with Essa crouched nearby. He can’t hear what either of them are saying, but Lukas still looks upset, though his expression reads more sad than angry.

Essa says something to him that makes Lukas look up with a significantly more hopeful face. She stands, then reaches down to help him up.

Jasper is distracted by Olivia’s voice letting out a shout of triumph. “Ha! Found one!” A moment later, the left side of the lamps light up.

“Nice!” he calls back.

Essa walks over to him. “Status?” she asks with a small smile.

“I think we’ve got only one more lever.” Jasper says, looking up at the Redstone lamps again, two-thirds lit up.

She snaps her fingers, then points over in the direction she just came from. “Hey, there was a switch over where Lukas is! I think it’s even on that tree he’s leaning against.”

“Thanks a million.” Jasper grins, already heading over. Lukas gives him a questioning look as he approaches.

“Hey, Jasper. What do you want?” His voice isn’t friendly, exactly, but at least he sounds calmer than earlier.

“I, uh…kinda need to get to that lever you’re blocking.” Jasper requests, somewhat awkwardly.

Lukas glances over his shoulder, then steps aside. Jasper flicks the switch quickly, watching as the rest of the lamps turn on. “Thanks.” he tosses back as he hurries over to the wall with the lights again. “Olivia, try the button now!”

She does as he asks, and before any of them can move, an entire section of the wall disappears, revealing a dimly-lit passage into a large room. “Yes! It worked!” Olivia cheers.

“Way to go, guys! That’s awesome!” Essa congratulates them. “Come on, let’s check it out.”

Jasper follows her as she strides confidently inside, feeling a great deal more optimistic than earlier. They all really do make a pretty good team, especially him and Essa. They’ve been through a lot of obstacles already, but they’re so close to reaching their goal.

What else could possibly happen now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if this chapter was boring,, the next chapter is a big important one so pls don't give up on me yet


	35. Know Your Enemy

The night was still and silent, almost unsettlingly so. It was just past midnight, and I was the only one awake in the Order Hall. I slipped soundlessly out the secret back door, not wanting to risk being seen or heard. There would be too much explaining to do if I was caught now, and none of my friends would let me go through with my plan if they knew what I was up to.

I headed around the back of the Hall, careful to stay in the shadows even though I knew no one else was around. Drawing my sword, I closed my eyes to envision the symbols of this timeline’s exit code.

The white shapes appeared just as always, and the gate opened with the familiar strange flash sound. I quickly jumped through, hoping that, if anyone heard the noise, the threshold would close before they managed to investigate.

It took longer for the In-Between to form, my eyes slowly adjusting to the horrible sight. The sky was still the same grey and red, looking like stone splashed with blood. The cracks in the ground had gotten even deeper and wider, forcing me to be careful where I stepped. They weren’t nearly wide enough to fall into yet, but I wasn’t willing to risk it.

The ugly gap where Jo’s timeline used to be was hard to ignore. My eyes kept drifting towards it, drawn to the empty space in the otherwise perfect circle of gates.

I felt suddenly as though I was being watched, and spun fully around. I didn’t see anyone or anything, but the instinct persisted. Part of me wanted to write it off as just being paranoid, but…that didn’t feel quite right. There was something here.

Still on my guard, I walked outside of the circle. The strange shapes bursting up from the ground had gotten larger and more numerous, but nothing moved. There wasn’t another being in the In-Between…at least not one that I could see.

“Hello? Is someone there?” I called experimentally. There was no answer, of course, and I still felt very uncomfortable about the whole situation.

I dragged in a deep breath, for the moment deciding to put it out of my mind, and walked steadily towards the smallest, dimmest gate, which I could swear was looking slowly brighter by the second. I had to get my timing _exactly_ right on this- there wouldn’t be another chance until it was too late.

I watched the white slash of light carefully, paying close attention to the image flashes as they became more chronological. From the look of it, the Prime hadn’t gotten past Soren’s End fortress…but that didn’t give me quite enough detail. I needed to know for _sure_ that Essa was alone before I dared go in.

Remembering what Jo had said about being able to sense other Primes in their timelines, I hesitantly stretched out a hand and let my fingers brush the white abyss. Sparks of light jumped out where my hand made contact, but I didn’t feel them as they touched my skin.

“Essa.” I whispered. “Where is Essa?”

A slight shudder rippled through the In-Between, so faint and swift that I wasn’t sure it had really happened. I stiffened, glancing nervously around as the gate began to change.

Instead of just being a white smear, it now showed a life-size image of the tall, dark-haired Prime. She was in a room I didn’t recognize, searching carefully through a chest. As I watched, she closed it and stood up, and I caught a glimpse of the dark-skyed End through a purple stained-glass window.

_Perfect_.

I squared my shoulders and walked into the gate, closing my eyes to properly envision the room I’d just seen. The colourless haze surrounded me, lifting me gradually into the new timeline.

I knew that what I was doing was incredibly risky. Having three Primes in one already-unstable timeline was bad enough, but adding the fact that the whole reason I was going there was to talk to Essa? Dangers upon dangers.

But I had to try. Thus far, the only times she’d been even halfway rational- and I use _rational_ in a very generous sense -was when the two of us were alone, so I was greatly hoping that she would at least listen to me.

The light faded into a dim, unfamiliar room. The walls were carved stone brick, though one of them was mostly window, and another was covered by an enormous diagram of an Enderman. A lone bookshelf stood in one corner, stacked all the way to the high ceiling, and a few chests lined the bottom of the windowed wall.

In the center of the room was a desk, and leaning casually on said desk was Essa.

She was already looking directly at me as I came through the gate, making me feel almost as though she’d known I was coming. Tilting her head towards me in acknowledgement, she gave me a calm “Hello, Jess.”

I stayed quiet, deciding not to waste time with false introductions. She straightened up, looking down at me. “Congratulations; you’ve finally managed to take me by surprise. I thought it would be _much_ longer before you and your little team would be able to to scrape together another scheme. Where are the others, by the way? Preparing for a sneak attack?”

“There are no others.” I said quietly. “It’s just me. So no, this isn’t part of a plan.”

She arched a brow, looking very amused. “Well, what do you know. Colour me shocked _again_. You’ve got more of a talent for the unexpected than I thought. So what brings you here, on your own? Even _you_ must realize that this isn’t by half the safest decision.”

“I know. I’m just here to talk.” I said shortly.

I expected a malicious laugh or condescending smile, and was surprised when she simply studied me with serious brown eyes. “Just to talk.” she echoed. “Let me guess. You’ve gotten sick of fruitless attacks, and are now hoping you can just _talk_ me out of my plans. My glorious, complicated plans that I’ve been working on for years.” 

“Something like that.” was my simple reply.

She crossed her arms, studying me carefully. I held my neutral expression, being very careful not to give her any hints from my face or body language. “Alright, then. What exactly do you want?”

I lifted my pointer finger. “First things first, I want to be perfectly clear on one thing. I don’t trust you, and I already know the feeling’s mutual. So here’s the deal: I won’t lie to you, if you don’t lie to me. No pretense, no false trails. We’re both adults, I think we can handle agreeing to only tell each other the truth.”

Essa shrugged. “Fair. I can get behind the idea of even footing. But whatever you want to say, you’d better get on with it: we don’t have too long before Jasper finds Soren. After that…well, you know what happens. The journey continues.”

With that in mind, I decided it would be best to cut to the chase. “Do you even realize what you’re doing, Essa? Have you even thought about how many people you’re hurting, what your ‘glorious plan’ will do to literally _everyone_ in our universe?”

“Of course I’ve thought about it. I’ve decided that I don’t care.” She replied flippantly, turning to look idly out the window at the dark sky beyond. “I’m doing this for my friends, the people I care about. They’re all that matters to me. And everyone who’s gotten in my way will pay the price.”

“What about everyone else?” I countered. “What about all the people who _haven’t_ hurt you? Why should they have to suffer, just because of your crazy scheme?”

She remained staring out the window. “I don’t give a damn about them. I have _one_ goal- fix the mistakes that killed my friends. What happens to anyone else isn’t any of my concern.”

“How can you not care?!” I burst out. I just didn’t understand it. “How could you possibly end up happy with the knowledge that you’ve ruined basically _everyone’s_ lives but your own? How can you see what you’re doing and _not_ feel guilty about it? I’ll ask it again- do you _really_ know what you’re doing?”

Essa whirled around, giving me a ferocious look. “No, Jess. Let me ask you- do _you_ know what I’m doing? Do you know what I’ll do when I succeed?”

I took a small step back, suddenly nervous. I hadn’t been trying to provoke her, but she looked pretty mad.

She continued speaking before I had a chance to, her voice dripping with poison. “Really think about it. You’re smart, I’m sure you’ll be able to put it together. When things are far enough out of balance for me to take control, I won’t _just_ have power of my own timeline. I’ll have a hold over them _all_.”

My eyes widened slowly as I realized what she was saying. She smiled malevolently. “I won’t have to physically travel to a timeline to interfere with it anymore. I’ll have all the timelines in the palm of my hand, and I can pull the strings however I want. I can heighten Julia’s Admin powers and force her to go mad until she destroys her own world. I can have all of Beacontown turn against Jacek, including his closest friends, and watch him flee the place like I nearly had to. I can kill off each and every one of your friends, one by one, just by _willing it_, until you’re even more isolated than me.”

She tipped her head to the side, giving me a thoughtful look. “So with all that in mind…am I _really_ an enemy you want to make?” she purred.

I was frozen. I somehow hadn’t thought of that, the fact that she could manipulate every timeline if she gained control. The thought was so scary that I hadn’t wanted to consider it, but now I was.

She could destroy all of us. And not only that, but she _would_.

“Here’s the thing, though, Jess. I like you. You and I are different from the rest of the Primes, and from everyone else involved in this, of course. So I’ll make you a deal.” she said. Her devious expression had calmed, becoming more passive, and her tense stance relaxed as well.

“A deal?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow uncertainly.

She crossed her arms casually. “Yes, and a very simple one, at that. I’m going to succeed- it’s just that simple. But it would be easier and smoother with you and the rest of your little band of renegades out of the way. If _you_ convince them to leave me alone for…however long it takes for me to finish carrying out my plan, _I_ will in turn leave your timeline alone. I won’t meddle with things, I won’t kill your friends…hell, if I’m in a good enough mood, I might even undo all the collapsing-reality chaos that’s going on.”

I gave her a suspicious look. “What’s the catch?”

Essa shook her head. “No catch. Just mutual staying out of each other’s way. I agreed to be honest with you, and I’m doing that. I am completely willing to leave your timeline alone once I have what I want.”

I paused. I knew I couldn’t trust her…but on the surface, this seemed like a pretty good compromise. It would, at least, guarantee the safety of my friends.

But she was wrong- there _was_ a catch. In accepting her deal, I would have to stand by and let her ruin all the other timelines. I would have to deal with the guilt from my friends and my own conscience. Besides, she’d implied that she wouldn’t even put our reality back to normal, so what was the point?

I let out a long breath. “Essa, as I’m sure you already know, I can’t do that. You make a good case, but I’m not letting up that easily. It’s just not the right thing to do.”

She watched me wordlessly for a few moments, like I was a puzzle she just couldn’t solve. “How do you _do_ that? How the actual hell are you _so_ self-righteous? You’ve gone through nearly the same events as I have- how is it possible that you’ve turned out so infuriatingly optimistic?”

She sounded strangely angry, and I shrugged uncomfortably. “I’d hardly call myself _optimistic_, but…I don’t know. The way I see it, it’s better to be the hero of your own story than to become the villain of someone else’s. At least _trying_ to look on the bright side usually ends up better than staying bitter.”

“But _how_?” Essa repeated, making a frustrated motion with both her hands. “You’ve gone through _actual_ hell, multiple times over! You’ve been betrayed, and hurt, and cast aside, and yet you’re _still_ standing in front of me preaching about positivity! I just don’t get it! _You don’t owe the world anything_, Jess!”

I wasn’t sure how to react to this sudden change of mood, and didn’t move as she turned away and began pacing. “Well, you’re right. I have been through a lot. But rather than fighting the world that hurt me, I’m choosing to continue saving it. Greatness isn’t about being immortal or glorious or popular- it’s about choosing to fight for the greater good of the world, even when that world’s turned its back on you. That’s all I really know how to do at this point, so that’s what I’m doing. Or…_trying_ to do.”

She shot me a glare over her shoulder, but didn’t say anything. “So no, Essa. I’m not going to just stay out of your way. I know that continuing to try to fix the timelines is the right thing to do, and I’m going to do it.”

Again, she surprised me. I’d expected more anger, but the look she gave me was one of pity. “That’s really too bad, Jess. I was hoping _so much_ that we could turn this around.”

“What do you mean?” I asked quietly. She was behaving very strangely, so much less confident and sneaky than I’d grown used to. Before, she’d always seemed to have two modes: unsettling or angry. And even though she’d just been acting upset, this…this was something else, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

Maybe this was her version of being open and honest. In that case, it really shouldn’t surprise me that her truthfulness was just as creepy as anything else about her. 

Essa made a small gesture to me. “Look at us, Jess. Look at who we are, and why we’re like this. Look at where we’ve ended up. We’re not all that different, as I hope you’ll be able to see.”

“Do you even realize what a cliché you are?” I snapped. She was starting to edge back into ‘unsettling’, and I didn’t like it. “I’m not claiming to be anything dramatic, but an ‘antagonist’ telling someone else that they’re _not all that different_ is one of the oldest tropes in the book.”

She gave me an appraising look. “Well, maybe that’s because there’s some substance to it.” she said pointedly. “And dramatic or no, you’re right in that there are some lines drawn.” 

Taking a small step towards me, she continued, “But if I dare say it, I think you’re on the wrong side.”

My upper lip curled in disgust. “The wrong side? You have _got_ to be kidding. You are _destroying reality_, Essa. There is no feasible way you could try to say you’re the ‘good guy’ here.”

“Maybe.” she said with an offhand shrug. “But I believe that the end justifies the means. I’m doing what’s right, even if I do have to trek some shady paths to get there. Though…” she paused, surveying me with slanted eyes. “I’m not the only one seeking out roads less travelled, am I? After all, we _both_ just want to get our friends back, do we not?”

A shiver of rage slipped down my spine. How dare she stand there, on the ashes of the world she ruined, and compare herself to me. “No, we’re not. I’m not trying to break the simple logic of the universe.” 

She shook her head, taking on a steely tone. “I’m not breaking anything. I’m setting things back to how they’re supposed to be. It’s not my problem if that’s causing some collateral damage along the way.”

“_Collateral damage?” _I echoed in disbelief. “You directly murdered Jo, and destroyed her entire timeline! You’ve killed and hurt who _knows _how many innocent people, and will no doubt do the same to many more! You let your world fall into ruin, just because you couldn’t deal with the mess _you_ made!”

Now it was her turn to sink into a vicious glare. “Would you have done anything different in my place?”

I started to protest, but she didn’t let me. “No, I’m serious. Stop and think about it, Jess. If things were still _exactly_ the same, but it was you instead of me in this role? Are you _really_ telling me you wouldn’t do anything to get your friends back, if you’d lost them the same way I have?”

“No. Not if it would cause this much damage to other people.” I argued. Essa gave me a condescending look, but it melted quickly away as she shrugged nonchalantly.

“Maybe you wouldn’t. After all, you nearly _have_ had the same things happen, and you’re still as much of a _hero_ as ever.” she said, bending towards me again and pointing a finger at my chest.

I leaned away from her. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on, Jess. Look around. You’re just as alone as I am. You’ve just lost people in a different way.”

“I haven’t _lost_ anyone.” I snapped.

She smiled in false sympathy, stepping towards me again. “No? Petra’s long gone; you watched her go. Axel and Olivia are deep in their own lives. Even Lukas is drifting off, more interested in his books and his boyfriend. And isn’t that worse, in a way? All of mine are dead, but yours are _choosing_ to leave you. In time, you could end up just as bitter and twisted as me, and you know it. The path there might be different, but the result is the same.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I hissed, but my bravado didn’t last long. “I’m _not you_. Just because we have our own lives doesn’t mean…doesn’t mean we aren’t still friends.”

My voice wavered slightly on the last few words. In truth, she was saying some of the things I’d already been thinking, which shook me to my core.

“Oh, Jess. I thought we agreed not to lie to each other.” she said with a shake of her head.

I crossed my arms, not deigning to reply. I knew that hadn’t exactly been the truth, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of saying it, especially since she already seemed to know.

“It doesn’t matter.” I said staunchly. “We might be similar in some ways, but not in all. Just because we have parallels doesn’t mean we’ll end up the same.”

“Maybe not. I’m just saying we have the _potential _to go the same way.” she replied easily, flicking a lock of hair away from her face.

I sighed slowly. “Essa…look, I know that you’re just trying to help your friends. I understand that. What I don’t understand is how you can be so flippant about the other people you’re hurting. There are so many other people who are going to be affected by this, people who have done nothing to you. They don’t deserve to be plunged into eternal chaos just because of your mad quest for redemption.”

Essa snorted. “That goes both ways, you know. Like I said- they may not have done anything _to_ me, but they haven’t done anything _for_ me. Innocence is relative. Very few people have given me reason to spare them from my wrath, and I don’t do _anything_ without a motive.”

Giving her a suspicious glance, I asked, “So then why am I different? Why were you willing to spare my timeline, if I’ve done nothing but try to oppose you?”

“I’m glad you asked.” She said with a brief flash of a smile. “But you already know part of that. As the two original Primes, we’re important. We could accomplish a lot if we were on the same side.”

I rolled my eyes. “This again? You can’t just threaten me into allying with you, Essa. You’re weird, but you’re not as scary as some of the other things I’ve faced off against.”

“Which is why I’m not threatening you this time. Not you, nor your friends, or anyone else in your timeline. This is an offer you can only gain from.”

“Another deal? Really?” I asked, more than a little sarcastically. I didn’t know where she was going with this, but I didn’t trust her. “What does _this_ one entail?”

She inhaled slowly, giving me a scrutinizing look. “It’s a tradeoff, like what I suggested earlier. If you leave me alone, I leave you alone; if you mess with my plans, I’ll ruin your life…et cetera. But I’m thinking...if you help me, I’ll help you.”

“Help me. How? With what?” I inquired sarcastically, not taking her the least bit seriously.

She moved closer to me again. “What did I say earlier, Jess? When I control the timelines, well, _I control the timelines_. I’m going to set mine right, make it everything it should’ve been from the start. And if, by chance, you’re there with me when I do that…I could do the same to yours.”

I instinctively leaned away, my snarky and suspicious expression dissolving into a more guarded one as Essa continued speaking. “Not interfering in my plans is one thing. Actually _helping_ me is a whole other. You interest me, Jess, and I’m willing to give you a chance that I won’t anyone else. If you join my side, and help me fix my timeline, I’ll set _yours_ right as well.”

“No.” I said immediately. “I’m not betraying my friends, and I’m not helping you wreck the universe.”

Essa smiled demurely. “You’re missing the point. Even if you did ‘betray’ them, it wouldn’t last. This would be fixing your universe, not wrecking it. Your timeline would be _perfect_. Exactly how you want it. Higher stakes, yes, but with a bigger reward.”

I was prepared to shoot her down again, but she interrupted. “Think about it. Really, shut your eyes and _think_ about it before you flat-out refuse. Jess, if you help me, I can give you everything you’ve ever wanted. I can give you Reuben back. I can bring your friends back and return you to the life of adventuring that you loved so much. I can completely cut away all those fears you have about your future.”

I closed my eyes, almost against my will. Part of me knew I needed to say no immediately, to shut her down before she got any further in her mind games.

But at the same time…this was an almost surefire way to happiness. I doubted I’d be able to accomplish that on my own, with everything that had been going on. Essa’s voice was low and confident, pleading gently for me to listen.

“Just imagine it, Jess. A perfect world. _Your _perfect world. Like I said, we’re the same. We’re both just looking for happiness, and this is the only way to get it. And it would be _real_. Not a dream, or an illusion, or a lie. Reality, put back exactly to how it should’ve been from the start.”

“I can’t…Essa, you’ve done too much to us. I can’t trust you.” I said slowly, looking at her again.

She spread her hands, shaking her head as she asked, “Why not? If we were allies in this, I wouldn’t have any reason to hurt you. All you have to do is help me. Not for my sake, but for yours; your future, your potential, your _happiness_. This is the easiest way, Jess. This is the only way we can _both_ end up happy.”

Her dark eyes held nothing but sincerity. She gently reached over and grasped one of my hands in both of hers. “You can have everything. No more compromises or disappointment, just your perfect world. It’s that simple. You and me, king and queen of the timelines. Of the universe. Of anything we want to be.”

I shut my eyes again, envisioning what she was describing. It was impossibly bittersweet, knowing that to do this was probably to doom the other timelines completely.   
But how much would it truly matter, if my friends and I were finally safe and happy? If I could fix _every_ problem in my own timeline, without all the struggle and effort? When it all came down to it, I didn’t have any control over what happened in the other timelines anyways. 

_You don’t owe the world anything, Jess._

Essa’s words from earlier came back to me with sudden clarity. I instinctively pushed the thought away at first, but I knew there was a ring of truth to it.   
I would be protecting my timeline. And without the fear of dying on this quest, I would be able to continue protecting it. All my fears of the future and worries over past mistakes would be gone.

I could have everything. I could be _happy_.

Essa was still murmuring encouragingly to me as I held that rose-tinted idea of a perfect world in my mind.

And then I let it go. 

I extricated my hand from hers, sinking into a determined expression. “Here’s the thing, Essa. You’re very convincing and all, but the answer is _no_. It was always going to be no.”

Genuine surprise bloomed in her eyes, and then she frowned disappointedly. “Jess, you know I-”

“No. No, no more of that.” I cut her off. “First off, I still don’t have a single fucking reason to trust you. Your whole ‘allies’ thing would be pretty flimsy already even if you _weren’t_ pitching it to someone whom you’ve already trapped and lied to and manipulated. I’m not about to entrust my whole timeline to you, especially not since doing so would harm reality even more. And second…I don’t think you’re going to succeed anyways, so partnering up with you now would be exceptionally stupid, which I try not to be in the habit of being.”

She sneered. “God, just when I thought you couldn’t get any more superior. Who the hell’s gonna stop me now? Not you. Not anyone in _this_ timeline.”

“Sure, maybe not me directly.” I said with a casual shrug, vindictively channeling the attitude she’d been giving me before. “But you haven’t been careful enough with your secrets, Essa. There’s someone out there who knows more than you probably want them to, and they can use that information against you.”

It was like we’d abruptly switched roles. Now it was me being smug and conniving, and her giving me suspicious looks. “What are you talking about?” she asked in a guarded tone.

“Betrayal. I’m talking about betrayal. You’ve let someone in on your plans that you shouldn’t have, and it’s about to come around to bite you.” I said smoothly.

She moved closer to me, jabbing a finger at my chest. “Who? How do you know this?” she demanded.

I allowed myself a wicked grin. I’d never admit it aloud, but it was strangely satisfying to play a ‘bad guy’ role for once. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that just yet. I’d rather wait and watch _you_ be the one squirming for once.”

I leaned in, standing on tiptoe to whisper directly in her ear. My lips brushed her cheek as I asked, “How’s _that_ for even footing?”

Essa shoved me roughly away, a war going on behind her eyes. I could tell she didn’t want to believe me, but her paranoia was taking over nonetheless. I knew she wasn’t likely to guess it was Giselle, since she’d been a part of Essa’s team for so long, but she had plenty of other suspects to cycle through. 

Just then, I heard a shout from outside the room. Essa and I both stared towards the door, listening to what sounded like Olivia’s voice frantically calling for the others.

“That’s my cue.” Essa said, shooting me a dark glare. She pulled an iron sword from her inventory and began tracing exit code symbols in the air. “Get out of here. I won’t have you messing things up any more than you already have.”

I crossed my arms. “Aw, really? No more shady deals or suspect second chances?” I snarked.

The gate opened with a slash of the sword, and she whirled around again, pointing the blade at me. “Shut your ignorant mouth.” she hissed. “You don’t know anything about what I’ve done to get to this point. I have been working _ages_ for this. I have fought and bled and killed for this. Years of my life, whittled away because of my devotion to this cause, _my_ cause. You’ll never know how hard I worked, all the doors I’ve kicked down after they were slammed in my face. And if you think that you and the rest of your self-righteous little busybodies are going to stop me now, I’m not sorry to say that you’re wrong. _Dead_ wrong.”

She lowered the sword and took another step closer, pressing her pointer finger against my chest. “I like you, Jess, and I know we would both be much, much happier as allies. I don’t want to have to kill you. But if you don’t stay out of my way, I _will_ end you on the spot. Now get lost, before I decide to get rid of you right now.”

I dropped my arms to my sides and glanced at the gate, hesitating as a thought occurred to me. I didn’t know the exit code to this timeline. This gate might send me _anywhere_\- Essa was pissed off and full of tricks, which wasn’t a good combination. I was suddenly facing another unknown, and a potentially very dangerous one.

But on the other hand, what other choice did I have?

“_Go_.” Essa snarled. I could tell that my revelation about the traitor had shaken her up, which was oddly gratifying.

She headed towards the door, still watching me as I stepped slowly towards the white gate. She still seemed angry, but there was a touch of satisfaction in her gaze as well.

Great. That could only mean good things.

Elsewhere, I heard a younger version of Lukas’s voice calling for Jasper- the Prime of this timeline, if I remembered right -and Essa made a prompting motion towards the gate.

I inhaled deeply, steeling my nerves. I was almost certain I was walking into a trap, but at this point, there wasn’t much to do besides face it head-on.

Forcing my body into motion, I walked across the gate’s threshold, my senses disappearing as I faded into the white abyss.


	36. Shadows of Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mentions of suicide

I knew something was wrong as soon as I didn’t appear back in the In-Between within a few seconds of going through the gate. Sure, gates had been a little screwy recently, but this wasn’t right.

I was floating in a blank void, surrounded by swirling white. It looked exactly like it did normally when I travelled to other timelines, but it wasn’t fading.

But there was something else strange here as well. I was struck again with that unsettling feeling of being watched, and pivoted in a full circle, looking carefully around. Turning was somewhat challenging, since I was hovering in empty space, but that didn’t stop me from scrutinizing the area.

There was nothing, no matter where I looked, and somehow this only elevated the nervous feeling. It was slowly starting to sink in now.

I was trapped.

There was visible exit, and no way to call for help. None of my friends knew where I was.

Hell, _I_ didn’t even know where I was.

Glancing around again, I considered my options. Maybe there _was_ an exit somewhere, and I would need to explore to find it. But…I kind of felt like it would be a bad idea to get too far away from where I was now. On the off chance that someone _did_ manage to get here, it wouldn’t do me any good if they couldn’t find me.

So in that case, it would be smarter to stay and wait. But I knew I couldn’t depend on being found- when my friends woke up and realized I was missing, there was absolutely nothing that would lead them to believe I had gone to talk to Essa.

I’d gotten myself into one hell of a bad situation. In hindsight, speaking with Essa had been a horrible idea right from the beginning, and I’d only made it worse by provoking her.

But that didn’t matter now. I had to figure out where I was, and how to get out.

_What if you aren’t anywhere, though? What if Essa’s sent you somewhere completely beyond the timelines?_

I shuddered, trying to push that thought away. No. I had to believe there was a solution.

I stayed still for several moments, listening and watching and simply thinking. I was in a perfect void, surrounded by nothing but cloudy white and able to hear nothing but my own heartbeat and breaths. My body was instinctively tense, though it was hard to maintain that since I was hovering above nothing.

A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I closed my eyes. If I was somewhere in the realm of the timelines, maybe there was a way to reach out and channel the power of the In-Between to either get out, or contact someone who could get me out.

I focused all my willpower on my mental image of the In-Between. _Help me out. I need to escape. I need to get back. Take me back to my own timeline. _

At first, nothing appeared to change. When I gradually opened my eyes, I was still in the blank void. But then I felt, rather than saw, a slight shifting of the air, an indistinct change in the structure of this inverted realm.

_There_. A flicker of motion, of colour, in the near distance.

I floated steadily towards it, or it moved towards me. I didn’t make any motion, but I somehow drew nearer to it anyways. As I approached, I saw that it wasn’t another person, nor a type of gate as I’d been hoping. It was a three-dimensional image caught in midair, the scene faded and strange.

My breath caught as I realized I was looking at an aerial view of my Beacontown. I leaned closer, and the image sharpened and zoomed in as well.

All the details fit. There was the stained-glass amulet, the recreation of the wool zombie statue, Reuben’s memorial, and everything else that made up the town. But…there was something off about it, too. It was indeed my timeline, but not how it was supposed to be.

I didn’t know what was wrong. On the surface, everything looked fine. Some things seemed slightly greyed or washed-out, but I at first guessed that was just because of this strange realm having an effect on the image. I spent a few moments puzzling over the oddness of it, but didn’t come up with anything concrete.

The image suddenly changed, and I was looking down at the streets of Boomtown. The place had changed a lot since Axel had taken the lead, though it was still plenty chaotic. I didn’t see Axel himself in the scene, but as before, I got the feeling that there was something wrong here.

This was going to drive me mad. _What was wrong?_

I leaned in closer, studying the place more carefully. The narrow streets between the haphazard buildings were still full up with griefers, but behind the colourful masks and brash motions I saw, many of them seemed different in a way that I couldn’t put my finger on. They seemed slightly less energetic, a little less purposeful.

But what did it mean?

_This is wrong._

It shifted again, and this time I was looking at Redstonia. It was the same here- the hustle and bustle of the engineering city was lacking…something that it wasn’t supposed to.

The scene expanded, and my eyes were drawn to a familiar woman dressed in red. Olivia was tinkering on a Redstone machine with an unfamiliar girl with brown blue-tipped hair in a high ponytail. Her assistant Nadia, if I remembered right.

Olivia herself wasn’t the same either. She lacked the energy and enthusiasm I was used to seeing from her; nowadays, she usually seemed most like herself when working on Redstone. Although the scene was mute and I couldn’t hear what she and the other young woman were saying, her motions were overly deliberate and slightly stilted, which was very unlike her.

_This is wrong. This is wrong. _

Before I could figure anything out, the image changed yet again. Now I was looking down at Petra wandering through a spruce forest, an iron axe slung over her shoulder. I didn’t know where she was going, and something about her hesitant pace and darting eyes made me think she didn’t know either.

There was an aura of despondency to her, evident in her hunched shoulders, heavy steps, and weary eyes. She looked like she’d been travelling for a while, as though she’d forgotten there was anything else.

But that wasn’t right. If Petra was sick of being out on her own, she knew she could return to Beacontown at any time. What the hell was going on?

_This is wrong this is wrong this is wrong_

It switched back to Beacontown again, this time appearing as though I was standing invisible in the very center of the street, watching people go by.

I paid close attention to their faces as they passed. I made a point to know nearly every person in my town, even if that knowledge went no further than recognizing their names or features. There was something unifying in the way they looked here, something that, again, was starkly different from the Beacontown I knew.

Suddenly, I began seeing things in a new clarity. The downcast eyes, the vague feeling of dissatisfaction that hung over the place…I’d seen it before. I’d been here before.

In the ‘control’ timeline.

_No_.

_Thisiswrongthisiswrongthisiswrongthisiswrong-_

The view zoomed out, and now I was looking over a dozen different biomes, miles of forest and desert and plains. Hidden structures came into unnatural focus, showing me all the secrets and lost treasures that weren’t yet uncovered.

And never would be.

Because this…this was the future. My world, without heroes. 

I instinctively tried moving back from the haunting scene, but it was surrounding me now, filling my head with images of a dull, uninspired future. A future where the people I knew and loved slowly lost sight of who they were and what was possible. A future where there _wasn’t_ a future anymore.

“No. This isn’t real.” I murmured without thinking, then raised my voice. “This isn’t real! My friends and I are still heroes! I’m still here, and I’m going to get out!” I shouted out into the nothingness.

_(Are you, though?)_

The question appeared in my mind as though someone had spoken it directly into my ear, and I stiffened.

_(Are you still a hero, Jess? Why? What have you done recently that merits that title?)_

I closed my eyes and pressed my hands against the sides of my face, convinced that I was going crazy. The void was playing tricks on me, my own mind turning against itself to cope with the nothingness.

I felt my body slowly rising, going limp as some unknown force lifted me upwards. I was paralyzed, unable to fight back as the troubling images continued behind my eyes.

My Beacontown, slowly fading away over the years, nothing to keep it the glorious utopia I knew it as.

_No…!_

My friends, drifting further away from their past selves until they each died alone.

_No_

My whole timeline, and everyone in it, becoming just as melancholy and hopeless as the one Julia and I had been tossed into.

_N-_

“No! I won’t let this happen! I can fix it!” I shouted deliriously, barely even being aware of what I was saying.

Abruptly, the images changed course. They showed me a future where I _did_ return to Beacontown. I relaxed for a moment…but the change didn’t stay a good one.

This new future was horrifyingly realistic.   
I put more effort into being the leader, trying harder and harder to keep things going but only managing to sink deeper into my own troubles. Things got more difficult, the simple tasks taking larger tolls on me every time.

This future showed me being alone, trapped on a cliff face I’d tried and failed to sculpt into a pedestal. Every new failure, every new _day_ hurt me more and more…until I finally took a way out.

_(A bottle of poison.)_

_(A rope around the neck.)_

_(A knife dragged through crucial veins.) _

Nothing left.

Friends gone, future dead, nothing but pain and hardship to look forward to.

_No. This isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t-_

But…isn’t this already where I’d seen myself? Isn’t this exactly what I was already afraid of? I had a darkness in me, a slow poison that rested in the back of my mind for years.

I had been afraid that it would turn me against everyone else, drag me down to the depths of anger and villainy that Essa lived in. That’s why I had warned Lukas of it. 

But what if it consumed me, and me alone? What if it already was?

What if I was already gone?

It’s not possible.

It’s not.

It’s…

_(It is.)_

Who was I kidding?

It was always going to go this way. Heroes never last. They shine bright, but then they eventually flicker and go out. I’d been shining for far too long, and deep down, I think I always knew it wasn’t going to remain that way.

Maybe my giving up on the future wasn’t a failure after all.

Maybe it was just acceptance, even before I truly knew what I was accepting.

_(You should’ve known_.)

All the times I’d hoped I could fix things, all the times I said it wasn’t yet too late…

Now it was.

It didn’t matter if I got out or not. The end would still be the same. One way or another, my timeline’s fate was to be one without heroes.

I almost laughed as a new thought occurred to me. Essa’s and my timelines really were polar opposites- all her friends were dead, but she was still going strong. Mine were all alive and well, but I was going to be the one to be gone.

_(It’s already too late_. _It’s always been too late.) _

Dulled scenes and images blurred behind my eyes, all showing fragments of the future. The future where I was dead and gone, taking the entire idea of ‘heroes’ with me.

Turns out I did make a mistake after all. It wasn’t letting the Order fall apart, though. That wasn’t where I went wrong.

It was holding us together for as long as I did.

I was no longer aware of my body in the white void. I was lost in an abyss of futures, my mind exhausting all the possible leads. There was no way to turn this around.

No way to save myself or my timeline. No

way

out

_Jess…?_

My mind slowly

slipped,

tipping into unknowable realms.

i was as good as gone

already.

_Jess?_

graves

in separate cemeteries

in separate cities

across the world from each other.

nothing could last.

_Jess?!_

futures, descending

lives in ruins

it's already

too late.

it had always been

too late.

_JESS_

fragments of memory

forsaken

lost in the void

i was

nothing

and

never could be

_JESS! JESS, WAKE UP!!_

I snapped back to myself, inhaling a sudden gasp of air. I glanced around madly, so disoriented I hardly even knew which way was up.

I was laying on the ground in the In-Between, with Julia sitting beside me. Her brown eyes were wide and full of tears. “Jess, oh my GOD! I don’t even know what to say right now, but I’m so glad you’re okay!”

She hugged me as I pushed myself into a sitting position. “What…what happened?” I asked, my voice low and raspy. I lifted a hand to my throat, frowning in confusion. My mind was a blur of fragmented thoughts and images that didn’t make sense.

Julia leaned away, giving me a look that implied she thought I was crazy. “What happened? You’re asking ME what happened? Sorry man, you are literally the only person who knows that right now.”

“I…I think I was…god, I don’t remember. What…what do you know?” I asked slowly. My throat hurt like hell, and my eyes stung as though I’d been weeping, or looking into a bright light. Or…both?”

She ran a hand through her short hair. “This morning, when we all woke up, you were gone. There were no clues, and none of us knew what to think- Radar was practically having a heart attack. Then Lukas suggested I go to the In-Between and see if I could do the whole Prime thing of sensing each other in other timelines, and when I got here, I found you _floating in midair,_ in the center of the third level of timelines! What the fuck, Jess! How did you get up there!”

Pausing to take a breath, Julia gave me a sharp look. “I used my Admin powers to fly up and get you, but I didn’t know what to do. You were breathing fine, and you looked like you were just asleep, but you were crying and FLOATING, FOR GODS’ SAKE, so I’ll ask that again. What HAPPENED?!”

I nodded, the memories of what I’d seen gradually coming back. “Yeahhhh, that’s kind of a…long story.” I hedged, shuddering slightly. Cautiously, I stood up, almost falling again as my weak knees nearly gave way.

Julia got to her feet as well, giving me a suspicious half-glare. “Well, then give me the short version. Did you leave on your own? Did Essa or Giselle or…someone do something to you?”

“Uh…more or less.” I said. “I left on my own, though. I, uh…wanted to talk to Essa.”

Julia stared at me for a moment. “You _WHAT_?! In WHAT universe was THAT a _GOOD_ _IDEA_?!”

I cringed, and she hit me upside the head. “You are SUCH an idiot! She could’ve killed you! What were you thinking?! You went without telling ANY of us! Christ, Jess, I knew you were impulsive, but that’s just ridiculous!”

“I know, I know! It was stupid! But I had to try. The _only_ times she’s been even halfway reasonable was when she and I talked alone for whatever reason, and I was hoping she’d listen to me. It actually worked, for a little while.” I said hesitantly. I didn’t want to give her the details of what Essa had said, the deal she’d proposed and how close I’d been to accepting it. If I had been just a _tiny_ bit more desperate, I might not be standing there right then.

Julia crossed her arms. “From the state I found you in, I’m guessing that didn’t quite go over how you planned.”

Sighing miserably, I shook my head. “No. No it did _not_. That woman is _crazy_, and at this point, I’m pretty sure the only way to stop her for good is to kill her. I wanted to avoid resorting to that, but I don’t know if it’s possible to sidestep anymore.” 

“What exactly happened?” she pressed. I was getting the feeling she knew I was holding some things back, and wasn’t going to stand for it. Considering what I’d accidentally hid from her in the past, I couldn’t exactly blame her.

“What do you _think_ happened? I asked her to stop, questioned if she knew what she was really doing, she threatened me and flat out said ‘no, fuck you’, and trapped me here. She made a gate that led to…honestly, I don’t even know what to call it. It wasn’t a timeline, but it wasn’t…_not_ one, either. It, well, I can’t exactly say it showed me the future, but it showed me _a_ future.”

Julia’s stance relaxed slightly, catching onto the note of worry in my voice. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how to describe it.” I said slowly. “I was…suspended in nothingness, and I saw events in my timeline. At first I didn’t know what was going on, because everything seemed vaguely _off_ in a way that I couldn’t figure out, but then I realized…it was showing me a possible future where my timeline became like the ‘control’ one, with no heroes.”

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “What? How? Your timeline has plenty of heroes. The Order-”

“I know that _now_.” I interrupted. “But it…showed me how it was possible. That’s the part that I’m having the hardest time explaining. It seemed so _real_. It felt like I was actually _in_ that future…watching my friends drift away and my own hopes slowly die. It was…I don’t even know. It was awful, and I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Julia gave me another suspicious look, but it dissolved into a relieved sigh. “Well, I’m just glad you’re safe. We should go back to your timeline; I know the guys will be happy to see you, especially Radar. The poor kid was freaking out when we realized you were missing.”

“Probably a good idea.” I muttered guiltily.

We headed back to my gate, and I tried not to look at the image flashes in the white. I couldn’t seem to erase the horrible scenes I’d seen in that inverted realm, and didn’t want any reminders of them. Julia led the way across the threshold, disappearing instantly into the white.

I closed my eyes as I stepped into the gate. The swirling blank light was no longer pleasantly familiar- instead, it made me feel distinctly ill. I was glad to step back out into my own comforting treasure hall.

Radar yanked me into a hug almost as soon as I came through. “JESS! What happened?!”

I laughed, accepting the embrace. “That’s a long story.”

“_This_ moron decided to go have a chat with Public Enemy Number One, all on his own, without telling any of us.” Julia snapped.

Lukas straightened up from where he’d been leaning against a wall and raised an eyebrow, looking between Julia and me. “You don’t mean…_Essa?” _

“Yep.” she replied simply. 

He slowly turned to look fully at me. “Jess…I know I’ve said it before, and will probably have to say it again…but you are an _idiot_.”

“I know.” I muttered, hunching my shoulders.

“Do you, though?!” He snapped. “Because you say you do, but you keep going off and doing thoroughly dumbass things like _disappearing in the middle of the night_ to talk to someone who probably wants to kill you! How are you even still alive at this point?! I know you’re a smart guy, Jess! So why can’t you fucking act like it?!”

I leaned guiltily away from him. Truth be told, I hadn’t thought it out at all, and knew I deserved to be yelled at.

Aiden stepped forward, stretching his arm between Lukas and I. “Okay, slow down. I agree that was more than a little brainless, but let’s get to the important thing here. Did you find anything out?”

“Wh- SERIOUSLY?! We’re NOT going to continue yelling at him for this?!” Julia sputtered, prompting a shrug from Aiden.

“I mean, if we went through all that and he _didn’t_ learn anything helpful, then sure, go ahead and carry on with the shouting. But if he gained some information on Essa and her plan, shouldn’t we listen to that? That _was_ the reason you went, right?” he asked me.

I stood up straighter, suddenly very glad for his presence. “Yeah, exactly. And I did learn…_some_ things.”

“What?” Radar asked eagerly. I reached up to scratch at the back of my neck, unsure of where to begin.

“Well…for starters, that we absolutely _have_ to stop her. If we don’t, we won’t just be plunged into eternal chaos- she will personally wreck each and every one of our lives. Once she gains control, she can manipulate all of our timelines however she wants. You…don’t want to know some of the things she threatened to do.” I said.

This statement was met by four pairs of startled eyes, ranging everywhere from mildly surprised to totally horrified. “Holy _fuck_.” Julia murmured. “I didn’t even think about that.”

“Also, she has absolutely no idea that Giselle’s gonna betray her. Essa’s definitely questioning the loyalties of some of those in her group, but not her. So we still have that on our side.” I continued. “But _she_ has another advantage- she still knows way more about the timelines and the In-Between than we do. She trapped me in this…weird void dimension, that was part of the In-Between, but _not_? It was really freaky.”

Lukas shrugged, looking tired. “Not much we can do about that one. We already knew her knowledge was leagues beyond ours, and it’s too late to learn more.”

“What do you mean, ‘weird void dimension’?” Radar asked curiously.

I cringed slightly. “I, uh…would rather not talk about it, if that’s alright. It kinda fucked with my head, and I don’t really want to revisit it.”

This earned me a slightly skeptical look from Lukas, but I ignored it and continued speaking again. “One way or another, though, we need to stop Essa. I’m tired of playing nice with her- it’s time to go all out. If it comes down to her life or the universe, I’m willing to kill her without a second’s thought.”

Radar’s eyes widened in alarm. “Whoa, what? Weren’t you the one arguing in favor of keeping her alive before?”

“Not anymore. She doesn’t deserve our mercy.” I said staunchly. “Usually, yes, I’d be the one voting on the side of pacifism, but not now. Not with her.”

Julia cracked her knuckles. “Good. Let’s take her down.”

No one said the inevitable ‘how’, but in the short stretch of silence that followed, I knew we were all thinking it. Julia folded her arms and gave us all a challenging look, as though daring us to say otherwise.

The front doors to the Hall suddenly burst open with a loud _thud_, making us all jump. A familiar female voice called, “Hello? Is anyone here?”

I turned and hurried towards the entrance. “Petra? Is that _you_?!” I called.

Bolting into the entry chamber, I saw that it was indeed her. She grinned, and waved to me, but before either of us could say anything, I was slammed solidly to the ground by a large grey shape.

“Sammy! _NO!_ Gettoff him!” Petra bellowed. The grey mass, which I then realized was a young female wolf, whined sadly and apologetically licked my face.

“_Off_.” Petra ordered again, and the wolf reluctantly did as she told. She smiled apologetically and reached down to help me up. “Sorry about that. She’s really tame, but she can be a little overly friendly.”

“No…worries.” I wheezed, attempting to regain my breath. “But I thought…I thought your letter said you found a wolf _puppy_.”

“Well…she _was_ a puppy, when I found her. But wolves grow fast. And she’s still young, so…puppy. Large puppy, but puppy nonetheless.” She said unapologetically.

Realizing I hadn’t yet asked one vital question, I inquired, “What the hell are you doing back? I thought you said you would be gone for way longer!”

Bending down to pet her wolf, Petra laughed. “Oh, I knew you were getting in some massive trouble without me, and decided I ought to come help.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Wh…_how? _Since when do you have magical trouble-seeking senses?”

“Seriously? Look around, Jess. The sky is green and logic is breaking. There’s no way you _weren’t_ involved.” Petra replied, then hesitated. “You _are_ involved, right?”

I shrugged guiltily. “Yeah, you got me. I’m…_very_ involved, actually.”

She shook her head. “Of course you are. Anyways, I’m glad to see you! I didn’t think I’d miss you as much as I did, but holy shit, it’s great to see you again.”

I had to stand on tiptoe as she pulled me into a hug. “I missed you too! You’ve gotta tell me about all the cool places you found, you made it sound so neat in your letters.”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve got plenty of stories to tell. You’d never believe some of the things that hap…pened.” Her enthusiastic voice suddenly cut out into an uncertain mumble, and I turned around.

Lukas had appeared from the treasure hall, his expression neutral but posture noticeably tense. The others were behind him, but it was obvious he was who had captured Petra’s attention.

They both looked at each other for a few moments, then Lukas glanced away and brushed by us, heading out of the Order Hall without saying a word. Aiden trailed hesitantly behind him, giving Petra an apprehensive look.

I remembered what Lukas had said happened between them, and understood why they both seemed so shaken up by the other’s presence. Radar and Julia, on the other hand, both looked confused.

Sammy barked loudly, bringing Petra out of her trancelike state. She petted the wolf’s head. “Sshh, you crazy thing. Chill out. Hey, Radar. Hi…oh, wait, who are _you?”_ she asked, finally noticing Julia. 

“This is Julia. She’s a new friend, and I’m helping her…well, fix reality, to put it simply.” I introduced.

Julia obligingly outstretched a hand, her smile only slightly uncomfortable. “Hey there.”

Petra shook her hand gamely, giving me a lopsided, joking smile. “Hi. Replaced me already, have you?”

“Pff. You know I could never do that.” I replied easily.

“So what’s been going on? What the hell did you get yourself into that’s causing all _this_ to happen?” she asked casually.

I paused. “Ah…actually, that particular answer might have to be held off for a bit. Because you’re not the only one who needs to hear that answer.”

Petra snorted. “Yeah, I’d say so. The whole _world_ is kinda freaking out- no one has the slightest idea of what’s going on.”

“Well…okay, that’s fair. But I mean a little more specific than that.” I said, glancing between her, Julia, and Radar. “The fact is, some things have recently made me aware that this…this isn’t how things should be. I made a mistake, even _before_ the whole reality-falling-apart thing, and it’s time to fix it.”

“What do you mean?” Radar asked, sounding concerned.

I inhaled deeply. “We need to get the Order back together again.”


	37. Everything To Fear

Two days later, my goal was almost accomplished. It had been easier to get Axel and Olivia to agree to come to Beacontown that I’d thought it would.

My letters to them hadn’t revealed anything of what was going on, just a simple request that they return and a promise that I’d explain everything once they did. 

Olivia had arrived earlier in the day, and was now currently gossiping with Petra about everything that had happened over the last few months. I wasn’t going to say it aloud, but they were strangely adorable together. Petra seemed wholly oblivious of Olivia’s feelings for her, and, had I not already been told, I probably would’ve been as well. Liv was a much better actress than I’d previously given her credit for, and to be completely honest, it was a little unsettling.

Axel’s reply letter had just said that he’d be here late evening, arriving by Nether Portal, so that’s where I was- leaning against the obsidian frame and letting my bent leg bounce anxiously. The Redstone lamps that lined the streets were just beginning to turn on, and I expected Axel to show up any minute. 

Lukas had been noticeably scarce ever since Petra showed up. He was obviously very uncomfortable with having her around, and I decided that in this case, it’d be better not to push him.

I just hoped they’d find a way to work things out on their own. I had no idea of how to patch things up, and there wasn’t much point in the reunion if they didn’t. 

I idly scanned the streets with slightly glazed eyes, lost in my own thoughts. I had too much on my mind, and not enough energy to really process it all.

The dark images of that strange void space were still haunting me. I couldn’t seem to shake them away- they were like cobwebs clinging to my brain, forcing me to relive the awful possibilities.

The most imposing question had still never been answered: Was it real? Were those futures true? Was I honestly destined to die by my own hand, isolated and in pain?

Or was it just a trick? Something to make me _think_ that horrific future was inevitable, to convince me to give up the fight?

I didn’t know, and at this point, I wasn’t sure if I truly wanted to.

I was so deep in my own head that I didn’t even notice Aiden approaching me until he waved a hand in front of my face. I snapped back to reality, blinking disorientedly. “What! Oh. Aiden, hi.”

He grinned. “You were _so_ spaced out right there. I swear I called your name like fourteen times, and you didn’t even twitch.”

I winced slightly, and his smile dropped into a more concerned look. “Hey, whoa. Everything alright?”

“Yeah…mostly. I’m just thinking about…too many things.” I muttered.

He nodded. “Fair. Anyways, Lukas wanted me to let you know that he wasn’t planning on going over to the Hall until later tonight. He wants to avoid everyone as much as he can.”

“Everyone?” I echoed, surprised. “Even Axel and Olivia?”

Aiden shrugged. “Yeah, that’s what he said. He seems pretty out of it. I personally have no beef with either of them, but…I’m kinda hoping to avoid Petra too.”

I gave him a surprised look. “Why? I mean, I know you two didn’t get along in the past, but things can be different now.”

He took a step back, shaking his head adamantly. “Uh, forgive me, but I _really_ doubt it. Plus, you don’t want me around her either. It’d just increase the awkwardness by a factor of a thousand.”

I replied with a blank look, and he sighed. “Think about it. _She_ is Lukas’s former best friend and ex-girlfriend with a shit ton of emotional baggage. _I_ am her former enemy and his current boyfriend with almost as much said emotional baggage. She and I didn’t get along even back when things were purely friendly; there is virtually no way this could be anything _but_ awkward. And that’s at the very best.”

“That’s…fair.” I conceded. “Still, with everything that’s been going on, you two aren’t allowed to bow out entirely.”

“Of course not.” Aiden agreed amiably. “I doubt you’d be able to-”

I didn’t hear the rest of whatever he said, distracted by the sound of the Nether Portal sparking. I straightened up, jumping away from the frame right as Axel came through.

He grinned as soon as he saw me, reaching up to mop a few beads of sweat off his forehead. “Hey, Jess! God, I wish we lived closer, I hate travelling through the Nether.”

I laughed. “Same here. But you’re here now! It’s so good to see you.”

He ruffled my hair like an obnoxious older brother, then pulled me into a hug. “Aaahh shut up, it’s only been like…three…four months? Oh, alright, it has been awhile.” 

As though just remembering, Axel disentangled himself from my embrace and held my shoulders at arm’s length. “But that’s not the point! Jess, what the _fuck_ is going on?! What did you do?!”

“W-why would you assume _I _did something?” I asked guiltily. Were my friends _really_ that perceptive, or was I just that good at getting into trouble?

“Because reality is a mess. And, forgive me, but so far _every _time something comes along to screw up our ideas of the world, you’re somehow involved.” he said flatly, echoing what Petra had said when she’d first gotten back.

I sighed. “Yeah, okay, you’re right. But not _every_ time has been me! Remember that weird thing a couple years ago, with the repeating day? That one wasn’t my fault.”

Axel shook his head, crossing his arms. “We’re clearly remembering that event _very_ differently.”

He glanced around at the darkening streets, then did a double take as his gaze landed on Aiden. “Whoa, wait. What are _you_ doing here?”

To my relief, he didn’t sound hostile, just surprised. Aiden waved awkwardly, and I explained, “Long story, but he’s cool now. Bygones are bygones and he’s helping the rest of us fix reality, more or less.”

“Huh. Okay.” was all Axel said in reply. I grabbed his arm and steered him in the direction of the Order Hall. There weren’t many other people out, since most were frightened by the collapse of reality and preferred to stay inside once it got dark. I couldn’t exactly blame them.

As we walked, I added, “Also, he and Lukas are dating, but do _not_ bring that up in front of Petra.”

“He and Lukas are _what_?! When did that happen?! How am I _not_ supposed to bring that up?” he exclaimed.

I shrugged. “Don’t worry, the shock wears off soon. They’ve actually been a thing for a while, but like I said- not a word around Petra. There’s a _lot_ of drama and tension between the three of them, and for the general interest of everyone involved, we’re not talking about it.”

He glanced back in the general direction of where we’d left Aiden. “Alright. I’d rather discuss the imminent collapse of our universe anyways.”

“That’s the spirit.” I snarked as we headed up to the Hall’s entrance.

Axel paused in his tracks, giving me a concerned look. “Whoa. That was uncharacteristically bitter. Are you alright?”

I let out another sigh. “Eh…more or less. There’s a lot going on.” I hedged. “I swear, I’ll do my best to explain.”

We went inside, following Olivia and Petra’s voices to the ‘meeting room’. Well, it was _supposed_ to have been an official meeting room, but was far more casual than formal, and more resembled a lounge than anything else.

Petra immediately sprang up to hug Axel, and Sammy went into a fit of happy woofing. “Hey, big guy! It’s been too long!”

Axel laughed and hugged her back, as Olivia said, “Hi, Axel. How’s Boom Town?”

“Still there.” He replied flippantly, prompting a laugh from Olivia. 

A spark of happiness erupted in my heart, followed by a strange sense of peace. For the moment, everything was okay.   
I’d forgotten how simple and easy it was to feel content when surrounded by three of my best friends. They were one of the only things that kept me here, sane and grounded.

How could I ever have let them slip away?

“So, what’s the tea, Jess? I’m hinging on the belief that all the dimension stuff you told me about has something to do with what’s wrong with reality, but I honestly have no idea.” Olivia commented.

Axel and Petra exchanged a glance, then looked at me. “What dimension stuff?” Petra asked, sounding a little affronted.

I sighed slowly. “It’s a lot to explain, and to be honest, it’s better if I don’t. I can’t just _tell_ you what’s going on, because it would only make things worse. In short, there’s multiple dimensions, and they’re a little bit massively screwed up right now. I’m trying to fix it, but there’s…it’s really complicated.”

Petra folded her arms. “Alright, _fine._ But…what does this have to do with us?”

I looked between the three of them, preparing to say the little speech I’d spent the last few days thinking about. “Listen. The reason I called you guys back is…not really something you’re gonna like to hear, but it has to be done. I have something I need to take care of. It’s _very_ important, but I…well, there’s a good chance that I might not come back.” I started hesitantly.

Axel immediately gave me a wary look, but didn’t say anything. Olivia, on the other hand, went straight into berating me. “What do you mean, you _might not come back?_ Jess, you can’t just go straight into something that could kill you. You’ve survived so much already; if whatever this is could be _that_ dangerous, you can’t just-”

“Liv, I don’t have a choice.” I argued gently. “Like I said, I can’t explain what’s going on, but Lukas and Radar will be able to tell you at least a little bit more. And I swear, if I come back, I’ll explain everything. But for now you’ll just have to trust me when I say that this is _really_ important. Like, the-fate-of-the-world-is-at-stake important. If I do lose my life because of this, it’ll have been worth it.”

“Then why can’t we come with you? It sounds like you’ll need us, and we’re-” Petra started, but I interrupted again.

“No. Like I said, I can’t tell you it all right now, but you cannot get involved. I _have_ to do this on my own.” Of course, I wouldn’t _really_ be alone- I’d still have Julia, after all -but I doubted that they would be much comforted by the fact that my only teammate was a relative stranger. 

Olivia shook her head. “Jess, there’s no way we can let you do this. You’re going into something that’ll possibly kill you, and _alone?_ You can’t possibly just expect us to stand by while you get yourself deep in danger again.”

I looked at her calmly. “I have to do this.” I repeated slowly.

“But what…what are we supposed to do if you do…if you end up…?” Axel asked hesitantly. I could tell how worried he was, even if he wasn’t stating it as flatly as Petra or Liv.

“That’s really why I called you guys back here. I…I think we made a mistake, splitting up. We were being selfish, thinking more about what we wanted than the greater good.” I began. “The truth is, this world needs us. It _needs_ there to be heroes, and so far, we’re all it’s got. Even when there’s not something world-threatening going on, I know now how important it is for us to all be together. Individually, we’re just people. But as the Order, we’re a symbol of hope and possibility. People need us, not just as their protectors, but as a reminder of what ‘just people’ can be. I’ve now seen what can happen when a world collectively loses faith in what can be done, and I _will not_ let our own world become like that.”

I paused to take another deep breath before continuing. “So if, on this mission, I don’t make it out alive, that is what I want you to do. Stay together. Stay a team. Don’t let people forget what is possible. Don’t let them lose hope in the inconceivable, and what they can do. I’m not asking you to throw away your lives completely, but I _am_ asking you to re-evaluate what makes those lives worth living. Things have changed. We were never meant to stay ordinary people- though we started out as such, I don’t believe we’re supposed to go back to being that way.”

The words were bittersweet. I knew, of course, that if Essa killed me, there was no point in saying any of this. But if she pulled another trick like the un-future void space, but where both Julia _and_ I were trapped, the rest of the Order was my only hope for keeping this world’s future alive.

All I got in reply was three uncertain looks from three pairs of dark eyes. I drew in another calming inhale. I had to keep my wits about me. If I went to pieces now, I didn’t know how any of us would cope.

“I know what I’m asking. I know how much has changed in these past few years, and I know you’re all content in your current lives. I don’t want to pull you away, but I think I have to. Things have been going downhill steadily since the Order broke up, and I can’t, in good conscience, let it go beyond the point of no return. I don’t even know where that point is, but I will do everything in my power to stop our futures from collapsing. _We_ have to do everything in our power to stop it.”

Petra scowled. “Practice what you preach, Jess. If you want us to stay together, that extends to you too. I don’t care if you think you have to, I’m not about to let you flounce off to some great unknown where you’re likely to not come back.” 

I wordlessly shook my head. “I…I just…_I don’t have a choice_. I’d explain it if I could, but…”

“Jess, don’t go where we can’t follow.” Olivia implored, rephrasing Petra’s words into something gentler.

“It’s a little too late for that, I’m afraid.” I said quietly. “It’s too late for a lot of things, actually. This is, to put it simply, a desperate last resort.”

Another significant glance passed between my three friends. Their expressions were all guarded, and I couldn’t tell what any of them were thinking.

After what felt like an eternity, Axel let out a long breath. “Alright. If you say this is best, I’m down.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. He shrugged.

“Yeah. I love my life in Boom Town, but you’re right. Things haven’t been the same, and not in a good way. You described it a lot better than I could’ve, but I’ve been feeling the same way. The world needs us.”

Olivia looked hesitant. “So is this just our life? Even when we think we do, we never have any real choice in the matter?”

“Oh, you just _have_ to make it sound terrible?” Petra asked with a roll of her eyes. “It’s not some great burden that we have to drag around. All the fun we had together, and all the respect we had…being known as a hero was an honour, and I’m more than willing to fill that role again. We had a lot of good times, and I’m…well, I don’t know why we thought they needed to end.”

Olivia’s silence stretched on a moment more, and then she smiled. “Okay, yeah. Sorry, I’m not meaning to sound like I’m disagreeing, I’m just looking at all the sides to this.”

“All the _pessimistic_ sides.” Petra put in, but she was wearing a small smile as well.

I let myself relax. “Thank you, guys. This means more to me than I know how to say.”

Axel draped an arm over my shoulders, pulling me into an affectionate side-hug. “Of course. I trust you, and like I said- I’ve been missing our hero life anyways.”

“So, this is it? We’re the Order again?” Petra asked, looking excited.

“…Yeah. I think so.” I said slowly. A million different emotions were welling up inside me, but I didn’t have words for half of them. I wanted to cry, though out of happiness or fear I didn’t know.

I’d been so focused on trying to convince my friends that I hadn’t even heard the front entrance open, so I was surprised when Radar suddenly leaned into the room. “Hey, Jess. Ah…Lukas is here, and he says he needs to speak with you.”

I jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. “Oh! Oh…okay. Where is he?”

“In the treasure hall, with Julia.” Radar said. There was something odd about his voice, something guarded and uncertain that I didn’t know what to make of.

Drawing away from Axel, I followed my intern out to the treasure hall, wondering what was up. I understood why Lukas didn’t want to come get me himself- still trying to avoid Petra, of course -but there was something about this situation that didn’t feel right. He was up to something.

Lukas, Aiden, and Julia were in one corner of the room, near the wall lined with bookshelves. Julia was sitting on the lowest of the bookshelves, and Aiden was leaning against the wall. They both looked at ease, which contrasted starkly with Lukas’s crossed arms and stiff stance.

I walked over to them, not sure what was going on. “Hey. What’s up?” I asked.

Lukas pivoted gracefully to look at me, and I noticed that he was wearing his full Order armour. “Hello, Jess. You tell me. What _is_ up?”

I raised an eyebrow, nonplussed. Lukas didn’t even blink as he stared down at me.

“‘What’s up’ is that Julia here doesn’t seem to think that you two have _any_ sort of plan to defeat Essa, and that you’re going to just go in and try to face her head-on.” he continued.

Julia let out a small aggravated sigh. “I already told you, there’s no _point_ in making a plan. We don’t have any way of knowing what she’s going to do. She’s too smart for us, and our ideas end up shattering anyways. At this point, virtually the only thing to do is to take her out in any way we can.”

Lukas gave her a sharp look out of the corner of his eye. “Well, let me tell you something: I’m not letting you do this. No way.” he said to me.

“You literally can’t stop me.” I said tiredly. “You can say anything you want, but aside from shutting me in an obsidian cage, you have no power over this. Also, please don’t shut me in an obsidian cage.”

“I’d just break him out, anyways.” Julia contributed lightly, swinging her legs.

Lukas glared at her again, then looked back at me and sighed. “Alright, have it your way. I can’t stop you. But, in turn…you can’t stop _me_. I’m coming with you.”

I stared. “Wh- _no_. No, you’re absolutely not.”

“Yes, thank you, I am.” He said staunchly. “You’re not leaving me behind again. I’m tired of waiting around here, not knowing if you’re coming back alive or not. I’ve been taking the back seat a lot during this adventure, and I’m done with it. I want to be able to help.”

“Help?” I echoed. “You can’t _help_ if you’re dead. Essa will kill you on the spot, just to mess with my timeline. No. I’m not letting you risk your life for this.”

He lowered his head, looking genuinely angry. “And what if she does something to _you_, huh? What if she traps you and Julia in another void space, and there’s no one to get you out? What if this is something you two can’t take care of on your own?”

“Then so be it.” I snapped. “I need you _here_, to lead the Order in case I don’t come back. I swear we already talked about this.”

“How’s this? If you don’t come back, neither will I. Aiden and I will leave Beacontown, and I won’t look back once. I’m not being part of an Order that doesn’t include you, Jess.” Lukas threatened.

Aiden raised his hands in a placating motion. “Hey, now. Let’s not jump to dramatics.”

Both of us primarily ignored him. “I said _no_, Lukas. I’m not going to risk your life for mine.”

“Shut up! _You’re_ not risking my life! I am! This is _my_ choice!” he yelled suddenly. “You! Are not! Leaving me behind! Not this time!”

I jabbed a finger at him, the fuse of my anger lit. “You act like I _want_ to leave you behind! Trying to save your damn life is a selfish thing now, is it?!”

“YES! Because you’re not doing this to save my life, you’re doing this to be your twisted version of _noble!_ You’re fully prepared to die, and you don’t want anyone stopping you! You want us to remember you as the great hero who saved reality, not the fucking _coward _who would rather push his friends away than admit he needs them!” he snarled. 

That one stung. I took a small step back, my furious expression sinking into one of dismay. Lukas, on the other hand, didn’t back down. “You want to basically go _kill yourself_, and let us clean up behind you, but you don’t get to make these choices for us, Jess! You think you can jump blindly with your self-sacrificial nobility, and it’ll all turn out fine. But you’re _wrong_. If Essa wins, we’re all going to die anyways. You’re not saving me from shit.”

Aiden straightened up and grabbed Lukas’s arm. “Lukas, you’re going too far. Calm down.”

Lukas looked over his shoulder with a ferocious glare, but his face slowly softened as Aiden’s calm expression didn’t fade. “You’re doing more harm than good.” Aiden continued. “But Jess, he’s right. You _don’t_ have to do this alone. It’s one thing to keep Axel, Olivia, and Petra out of it, but you can’t force _us_ to stay back. We want to help, and you’re not going to be able to discourage us. Ulterior motives or no.”

My shoulders slumped. Lukas’s angry words were echoing through my head, and I had a deep feeling that I’d just lost a battle I shouldn’t have started. “I just…I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of this.” I said slowly.

“And you haven’t thought that maybe we feel the same about you?” Radar cut in from behind me. I turned, seeing his face set into an expression of concerned determination. “We get that you’re a hero, and you think this is the right thing to do, but we’re not going to stand by and let you throw your life away because of that.”

I closed my eyes, trying to calm my breathing. I didn’t know what to say. Feeling powerless against a villain was one thing. Feeling helpless against my own friends was a whole other experience, and one I didn’t particularly like.

“Fine. I don’t care. I guess I really can’t stop you.” I said deliberately, turning away. “I’m going to bed. If you want to come along that badly, I’ll see you in the morning.” It was still only mid-evening, but I didn’t care.

“Wait, really? You’re letting them join your mad quest, but you won’t even tell us what’s going on?” Petra asked. I didn’t even realize the others had followed me to the treasure hall, but there they were.

I hesitated. “I…look, I don’t have a choice, in either of those matters.” I muttered bitterly. “I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted things to go either.” 

Brushing past the rest of my friends, I headed back out of the treasure hall. Julia called my name, and I paused for a moment.

“Jess, wait, I don’t think they meant…you don’t need to…” she trailed off.

“I’ll see you in the morning.” I told her resolutely, turning away again. One way or another, this would all end tomorrow. If Lukas and Aiden and Radar really wanted to potentially throw their lives away for this, fine. So be it. As they’d so stubbornly pointed out, it was their choice.

I was tired of fighting. Fighting Essa, fighting my friends, fighting my own thoughts…I was done.

I didn’t care if I was alone in this battle or not: I just wanted this to be over. 


	38. Still

**▪Lukas’s POV▪**

Step, step, step, step, turn. Walk back the other way.

Four more steps. Turn again.

The action was stuck now, my body carrying out the motions even if my mind didn’t want to.

But I did want to. I had buckets and buckets of restless energy, and it had only one place to go- _pacing._

“For god SAKES, Lukas! You’ve been doing nothing but walking back and forth for an _hour!_ Can you _please_ calm down?” Aiden implored. He was sitting on my bed, watching me pace with increasing frustration. This had to be at least the third time he asked me to stop.   
He hadn’t asked what was wrong, but I knew he had a few guesses.

“No, I can’t calm down! I don’t know what calm _means!”_ I exclaimed back.

He gave me a weary look. “Dear, you’re gonna start wearing holes in the floor. Siddown and chill the hell out.”

I dropped my gaze nervously. “I _can’t_. I’m too freaked out right now, I don’t know what to do.”

Aiden sighed. “Lukas…you are not solving _anything_ with this. I don’t even care if you’re still angry at Jess, or freaked out about Petra, or having a manic episode, or if there’s something completely different going on…but you gotta calm down. At this rate, you’re gonna be pacing all night, and I’m never going to get any sleep.”

“How am I _supposed_ to calm down?” I asked with a touch of panic. “She’s _here!_ Did you see the look she gave me?! I can’t _deal_ with this right now!”

I paused in my pacing, stringing my hands through my hair. “What if she’s still angry? What if she blames me? Hell, she probably does- _I_ blame me, after all! What if-”

“LUKAS HOLY SHIT. You are LOSING IT.” Aiden got up and stood in front of me, grabbing my hands. “This has been going on long enough. Stop talking. Stop _moving_. Take a deep breath, and shut up long enough to listen to me.”

I raised my eyebrows, surprised at his bluntness. He could still be properly intimidating when he wanted to. I did as he asked, though, dragging in a deep breath and forcing myself to relax. My muscles were still tense, and I instinctively wanted to keep walking.

“Okay. You good?” he asked. I nodded hesitantly. “Good. Now, chill. The fuck. Out. You’re being an idiot, and kind of insane. I’m aware that there’s too much going on, and you’re stressed. There’s a lot that we can’t do anything about. But you know what you _can_ do something about?”

I shook my head immediately, already guessing where he was going with this. “No, no, Aiden, I can’t. I don’t want to…I’m just not ready to…”

“When are you gonna _be_ ready?” Aiden pressed gently. “The tension between you and her isn’t gonna go away just because you don’t want to deal with it. You’ve been stressing about this for _months_. The whole reason we started dating was because you wanted to get your mind off her. Now she’s _here_, and you can just talk to her, and deal with all the shit you’ve been carrying around for months.”

I met his eyes, startled. “You…know about that? Why we…why I wanted…”

He smiled slightly, though it wasn’t a happy one. “Yeah, I know. It didn’t take a genius to put the pieces together. You were freshly heartbroken over her, and I was someone new to give that leftover affection to. I know.”

“I didn’t…I’m not…It’s not like that anymore, you know.” I said awkwardly. Maybe it had just been wishful thinking, but I’d believed he didn’t know the original reason I’d said yes to being his boyfriend. At some point, I’d made it very clear that I didn’t hold romantic feelings for Petra anymore, and that was still the truth. I hoped he knew that.

“I know.” he said again. “Things have changed a lot the past few months. But what _hasn’t_ changed is all the baggage you and she have. So just go talk to her. Apologize for…whatever you think you did wrong, and try to make amends. If you make up, great, you’ve got your friend back. If she’s as angry with you as you think she is, then at least you know.”

I let out a long breath. “I’m just scared, Aiden. It’s been so long since I’ve actually talked to her. I don’t know what she thinks about me anymore, and I think I’m too afraid to find out.”

This time, he gave me a real smile. “That’s exactly how _I_ felt when I decided to try to contact you again. Did you know, that I’d had the idea of writing to you a whole _year_ before I actually did?”

“What? No way.” I objected. He nodded.

“Yeah. I missed you really bad, and I wanted to talk to you again, but I was so afraid of…well, exactly what you just described. I didn’t want you to push me away again. I didn’t think I’d be able to handle it.”

Aiden squeezed my hands slightly, tracing his thumb along the inside of my palm. “But you let me back in, after everything I did. And if you can give me a second chance, you have to be willing to believe Petra will give you one too.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Instead of fighting to come up with something coherent, I leaned in and pulled him into a grateful hug. He wrapped his arms around me, murmuring softly. “You’ll be okay. She was your best friend for years before that whole mess happened. You can manage to talk to her.”

I pulled away. “Okay. You’re right, I may as well give this a shot.”

“Good. But one thing…” he said as I turned and headed for the door. I glanced back at him, and he continued. “If you kiss her, or make any other romantic move, I will know, and I’ll make you sleep on the floor.”

I laughed. “Understood.”

I headed out of the room, glancing up and down the hall. All my friends’ bedroom doors were closed, except Julia’s and Petra’s. The light was off in Petra’s room, and if was remembering her habits correctly, that meant she most likely wasn’t there.

Well, no matter. I could think of at least one place she was likely to be.

I padded softly down the stairs, trying to stay quiet. Many of the lights on the lower level were still turned on, including some of those in the treasure hall. I headed into the large room, still hesitating ever so slightly.

She was standing near the large window, looking at the treasures displayed behind the row of armours. The lights weren’t on in that half of the room, so she was lit mostly by the pale moonlight streaming in from the window. Her back was to me, and I couldn’t tell what she was looking at.

I’m not sure if she heard my steps or just sensed someone there, but she turned and saw me standing just inside the treasure hall. She stiffened slightly when she realized it was me, but didn’t make any other motion.

I walked hesitantly towards her. The whole scene felt strange and surreal, like I wasn’t really here.

Petra picked up the Wither Star, watching as it hovered slightly above her hands, spinning. Her expression was intentionally blank, but I recognized the sadness in her eyes. She didn’t look at me as she softly remarked, “It’s been so long.”

I couldn’t think of anything adequate to say to that, but luckily I didn’t have to. Still not looking at me, she continued, “Everything’s so different now. It’s hard to be back here again. I…I don’t feel like I really know anyone anymore, not even the people who used to be my best friends. Not even you.”

She set the Wither Star back on its pedestal, and finally met my eyes. A million memories came flooding back, all the years of friendship and romance we’d had.

This was unlike anything we’d ever dealt with before. Words spun through my mind, but none of them were right.

Petra watched me wordlessly for a few moments, then looked away at the window. “I shouldn’t have come back.” she murmured.

“Maybe…maybe you shouldn’t have left.” I said quietly. Her brown eyes flicked back to me again, a look full of uncertainty.

“Look, Petra. I honestly don’t even…it’s been a few months, and I kinda blocked it out, so I don’t remember the details of…well, our breakup.” I started hesitantly. “But what I do know is that I’m sorry. I hurt you, and I kinda tossed both our lives into a tailspin, and the guilt of it has been chasing me around for months. I should’ve listened to you from the start. I’m so sorry. I understand if you’re still mad at me, but I just had to say that. _I’m sorry.”_

She blinked, an expression of confusion settling gradually across her face. “You…_what?_ Lukas, you…you thought…oh. Oh, no, Lukas....”

Petra turned abruptly away from me, hiding her face in her hands. I gently touched her shoulder, unsure of what was going on, and I thought I heard her let out a quiet sob.

“Petra? Are you okay?” I asked worriedly. She just sniffled, and adamantly shook her head. “Come on, talk to me.” I implored. “You know I’ve seen you cry before, why does that make a difference?”

“Because it’s…I’ve…_god_, Lukas! I didn’t think…”

Her voice broke, shattered by a sudden flood of tears. “I’m so stupid! I thought…I thought _you_ hated _me_.”

I stepped around to face her again, and she miserably tried to wipe her eyes. “What? Why would I hate you?” I asked.

“Because I thought it was all _my_ fault. I was the one who started the fight, who kept pressing you to leave. I was the one who blew up. Now we’re both broken, and there was…it doesn’t even _matter_ now. I’ve been fucking _furious_ at myself, because I thought I drove you away.”

I was slammed with two tough emotions at once; shock and grief. This changed everything.

_Of course she’d been blaming herself. Of course she had. Nothing could ever be easy. _

“Oh…Petra, no, I…”

She didn’t seem to hear me. “I couldn’t stand to even look at you, because I was so ashamed of what I’d done. That’s the whole reason I moved to Champion City. There were too many memories in Beacontown, too many reminders of what we’d had and how I’d wrecked it. I can’t…I can’t believe…”

“That I felt the same way?” I asked softly. She slowly nodded. 

I leaned in to wrap my arms around her, my eyes misting with tears as well. Petra returned the hug, memories and nostalgia flooding through me. Her shaking hands pressed into my back, and I rested my chin on her shoulder.

We’d been here before. Maybe not in this exact situation, but this pose and these emotions weren’t new. She’d always been a very physical person, emotions showing through as actions more than anything else. If I’d been in the right frame of mind, I should’ve realized, far sooner, that her distancing herself from me wasn’t out of anger.

It wasn’t long after the fight before I’d calmed down enough to realize how badly I’d screwed up. I’d realized that I’d pushed her too far, and should never have said and done what I did.   
But I couldn’t bring myself to track her down and apologize, for fear of making things worse.

Then the guilt had started to set in, and I just couldn’t bear even _thinking_ of being around her, after what I’d done. _I’d_ driven her away, and I wouldn’t deserve her forgiveness even if she chose to give it. I’d missed her like crazy, but I felt too bad to do anything about it.

If only I had realized that she’d felt the same way.

If only we hadn’t both been such utter miserable fools.

If only I hadn’t been so wrapped up in my own head, maybe we could’ve fixed things months ago. Maybe we could’ve repaired our relationship while there was still romance to salvage.

We stood together for several long minutes; no words, just the stream of tears we’d been repressing for too long. I’d pushed down my pain, trying to ignore the raw agony of losing my best friend, but it was all coming to the surface now.

It was her that spoke first, pulling away from me to rub her eyes again. “God, I’m a mess.”

“We both are.” I said through a weak laugh, and she nodded with a similarly fragile smile.

“I really miss you.” I admitted after a moment of quiet. “I…I honestly do wish you hadn’t left Beacontown. We could’ve worked it out.”

Her smile turned sad and small, then disappeared completely. “I miss you too. We were…we were really something, huh? I’m hesitant to say we were perfect, but for a while…well, we came pretty close.”

“You know I’m with Aiden now.” I murmured. I’m not entirely sure why I said it, but it felt like it ought to be addressed.

Petra nodded again. “Yeah, I know. I’m okay with that. I think he… in the long run, he’s better for you. I mean, once, you and I were quite the power couple, but…” she paused, evidently searching for words. “We just made too big of a mistake, and we were too afraid to fix it, and now it’s too late. But I don’t mean that in a negative context- I’m glad that you didn’t stay hung up on me. Lukas, I just…I want you to be happy. I know…”

She hesitated, glancing nervously between me and the floor as she continued speaking. “I know this is kind of a weird thing to say after, well, _everything_, but…I want for us to be friends again, if that’s possible. I miss you more than I know how to say, and even if we’re not gonna get that old love back…I’m tired of not having you in my life at all. I know it’s gonna take us some time to rebuild our friendship, if we even can, but I’m more than willing to try if you are.”

I reached over and took one of her hands in mine, grinning up at her with a newfound lightness I hadn’t felt in months. “I’d love that.” I said honestly. “I think that ultimately, it’s up to us whether it’s ‘too late’ or not. And if we’re in agreement that it’s not, I don’t see why we can’t try again.”

Petra beamed, then leaned in and pulled me into another hug. “Thank you.” she whispered. “Thank you so much. I’m sorry I-”

“Hey.” I interrupted, gently patting her back. “Don’t apologize for anything. We were both at fault, and it’s okay now. We’re starting over, remember?”

She laughed, stepping back again. “Right, okay.” 

Lifting her head to look out at the dark sky, Petra sighed and asked, “So…now that we’ve gotten _that_ squared away…what’s going on? Why’s reality so screwed, and what the hell is wrong with Jess?”

I glanced away, unwilling to meet her eyes. “I…I really can’t tell you that. At least not what you want to hear.”

“I heard what Jess was saying. He really doesn’t think you’re going to come back from…whatever this mission is, does he?”

I shook my head. “No, but I don’t think we can pin that all on the dangerous quest. Jess hasn’t been himself, ever since the Order broke up. I can’t really explain what’s happening…but I think that once we fix reality, he’ll go back to normal too.”

“He’s that connected to it?” she inquired, raising both eyebrows. “I was partially kidding when I said I knew he was involved.”

“Oh, he is. He’s _very_ connected to it.” I confirmed. “It’s affected him a lot, and I wish…I wish I knew for sure that I’d be able to get him out.”

She went quiet after that, but if her melancholy expression was any indicator, she wished the same.

“Do you think…” Petra started, then trailed off. She inhaled deeply and focused on me. “Do you think we’re the reason the Order split up? I’m just thinking…when we first got together, we spent all our time with each other instead of the rest of the Order. Did that start the rift? And we…we could’ve all banded together again during the Admin, but we didn’t. Was that because you and I were avoiding each other? Lukas, is all of this our fault?”

I watched her mutely for a few moments, my jaw working as I tried to think of something convincing to say. “I don’t know.” I managed finally. “I’ve thought about that a lot, actually, and I just don’t know. I don’t _want_ to think it is…but at the same time…”

“You can’t help but think it might be.” she said forlornly, echoing my thoughts.

“Yeah. Like I said, I just don’t know.” I murmured.

This thought put us both in somewhat of a grim mood again despite our reunion. We stood together for a long time, eyes trained up at the obsidian-coloured sky outside the window, searching for answers we hoped could be found among the dim stars.

I didn’t know what was going to happen tomorrow. I’d already learned not to expect victory when we were up against Essa, but if we failed…

_If we failed… _

I shut my eyes, trying to block out the dark thought.

As if Petra had read my mind, she cautiously asked, “I know I don’t know what-all is happening, and I know you won’t explain it. But what happens, if you and Jess fail?”

I looked at her again, my voice barely above a whisper. “If we fail, our world ends tomorrow.”


	39. Different Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just for clarification, Jasper’s timeline is moving a lot faster than any of the others, even though its reality is still mostly intact. and yes, this is because of Essa. of course it is.

Jasper is running solely on adrenaline.

His faith in himself, his friends, and the plan has begun to wane. There is too much going on, and too much at stake, and all he can do at this point is keep running.

He’s scared, to put it simply.

The Endermen had been less than cooperative at first, but now they’re tearing into the Witherstorm with unmatched vigor. Jasper has never seen so many monsters so angry.

The area is full of Enderman noises, their screeches, chirps, and the strange teleporting noise echoing around him. Although the monsters are _technically_ on their side, Jasper is still highly nervous being around so many of them.

At least he has the Command Block sword, though. If worse comes to worst, he knows he can at least take out some of the Endermen if they succeed in attacking him.

On the downside, Soren is gone, and now they have to carry out the plan without him. Jasper is still reeling from the sudden revelation about the Order, and the eccentric leader running off didn’t help matters.

_If I ever see Soren again_, Jasper thinks angrily, _I’m going to throw him to a fortress full of angry Enderman and turn away, just like he did to me. _

He races up an unbroken flight of stairs, looking out at the wreckage that used to be Soren’s intimidating stronghold. Both the Endermen and the Witherstorms have done a number on it, and it’s nearly unrecognizable now.

“Jasper, look! It’s working!” Olivia calls, pointing to the largest Witherstorm.

“That hole’s big enough to get inside of.” Essa notes. Jasper follows her gaze to see a giant gap in the Storm. It _is_ large enough to get into, but it’s also still too high up and too far away. Jasper bites his lower lip, trying to think of a solution. 

“Now we just need to find you a way up.” Axel comments.

Olivia gives him a thoughtful look. “Or…_build_ you a way up.”

“That’s it!” Jasper exclaims. “Everyone, empty your pockets. Let’s see…I’ve got Redstone blocks and cobblestone from Ivor’s armoury.”

“I have some TNT from Boom Town…” Axel offers.

Olivia is the next to check her inventory. “I’ve got pistons, repeaters, and more Redstone.”

“I’ve got some wool, obsidian, and some leftover slime…oh, and some stone from the maze.” says Essa, scrutinizing each of the materials as though trying to see how they could fit together.

“Oh, and I still have that minecart!” Axel remembers. 

“That’s gotta be enough to build _something_, right?” Olivia asks, a little worriedly. “I mean, if we use the TNT on, say…”

“The minecart?” Axel puts in.

“Or those pistons.” Essa adds. 

Axel snaps his fingers. “And we do have all that cobblestone…”

Jasper isn’t really listening to their brainstorming, having already come up with his own idea. “Guys, check it out! We use the pistons, the Redstone, and the TNT to build a TNT launcher. Then, I climb on, and you guys blast me all the way into the Witherstorm!”

Axel laughs with true griefer’s delight. “Heck yeah!”

“So what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry up and-”

Olivia is interrupted by the largest Witherstorm letting out an ear-splitting roar and turning its tractor beam on them.

“Look out!” Essa hollers. Jasper dives out of the way, but the monster is too fast for Axel. He shouts in surprise, being lifted up by the purple beam.

“Axel!” Olivia cries. She leaps up, grabbing onto his foot and trying to pull him back to the ground. She’s no match for the strength of the Storm, though, and soon she’s rising away as well. “Whoo-ooah!”

Essa wraps her arms around the smaller girl’s waist, putting all her strength into trying to pull them both down. “I’m not strong enough!” she calls desperately. The Storm seems determined to have all three of them, and Jasper grabs Essa’s boot just before she’s out of reach.

The metal of her armour is difficult to hold onto, and he’s beginning to panic as he glances around for a solution. “I can’t…hold on…” he gasps.

“Look!” Olivia shouts from above him. Jasper turns his head just in time to see a familiar blond boy running up, followed by three other teenagers.

“Lukas?! You’re here?” Jasper calls, shocked. Lukas grins, brandishing a red-and-white firework. “I got you! Guys, we gotta distract the Witherstorm!” he orders his friends.

Jasper watches in disbelief as the other three Ocelots do the same, pulling fireworks from their inventories and firing them at the Witherstorm. Is this the Ocelots actually _helping_ him?

_It really is the end of the world, _he muses, a little deliriously.

“Hey you! Get a load of _this!”_ Maya yells up at the Storm, setting off a particularly large firework. The giant monster roars in rage, and the tractor beam moves away from Jasper and his friends.

The four of them crash to the ground, but get up just as quickly. “Lukas, thank you.” Jasper says gratefully.

“Hey, anything for a friend.” is his simple reply.

Luckily, Essa doesn’t lose focus. “Let’s hurry up and build this thing, before anything else happens!”

Between the four of them, the TNT launcher is built in almost no time at all. The Ocelots keep the Witherstorm completely distracted, so much that it seems to all but forget about Jasper and his friends.

Jasper places the last slime block, looking down at the finished launcher. It may not be the most attractive build they’ve ever done, but it should work.

“Quick, climb on!” Olivia prompts.

Essa nudges Axel. “You should hold Reuben. He might try to follow Jasper up there: you know how loyal he is.”

“Crap, you’re right! He would!” Axel realizes. He scoops up the small pig, who lets out a reproachful squeal. “Sorry, bud. We’re not taking any more risks than necessary today.”

Just as Jasper is stepping down from the makeshift stairs of the launcher tower, Lukas hurries over. “Wait! Jasper, hold on. You’re not really going to go alone, are you?”

He hesitates, unsure of what Lukas is getting at. “Of course I am. We don’t know what’s up there- I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

“But what if _you_ get hurt?” the blond boy presses. “You already know it’s going to be dangerous, not to mention terrifying. There’s no way you can go alone.” 

“I have to.” Jasper argues.

Lukas adamantly shakes his head. “No, you don’t. I’ll go with you. I want to be able to help.”

Jasper pauses again, weighing the options. Before he could reach a decision, Essa puts a firm hand on Lukas’s shoulder, then pulls him back. “No, Lukas. You’ve got no armour, and, I don’t mean to be rude, but you have a tendency to freeze under pressure.” she says in a gentle tone. “You would be at even more risk than Jasper, and no one wants that.”

She then turns to Jasper. “I’ll go with you, if you want. That way you still have backup, but you’re not putting any of your more vulnerable friends in danger.”

He lets out a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. He is so, _so_ glad she’s come along: she’s already proven to be capable of taking care of herself, and he knows she’ll have his back. “Yeah, thank you. Let’s go.”

They stand at the base of the tower, on the blocks of TNT. Even with the fancy armour, Jasper still doesn’t fully like the idea of standing so near lit dynamite. There isn’t another option at this point, though.

“And Jasper?” Olivia calls confidently. “I know you can do this.” 

“We all do!” Axel adds.

Jasper straightens his shoulders. “Thanks, guys. It means a lot.”

Axel pumps a fist in the air, still holding Reuben with the other arm. “Now, go demolish that Command Block!”

Reuben squeals loudly again, but can’t get out of Axel’s grip. Jasper glances over at his pet for half a moment and gets a sudden feeling that something is deeply wrong.

He shudders, as though unconsciously trying to shake off the terrible instinct. For just those few seconds, he feels as though his entire world has been shattered while his back was turned.

He doesn’t have any longer to contemplate it, though, before the TNT explodes. Jasper and Essa are tossed into the air, the slime blocks boosting them up towards the Storm.

Jasper is completely weightless for several long seconds, and he screams on instinct. It feels less like the idea of _flying_ and more like violently falling, and he doesn’t like it at all. 

The obsidian blackness of the Witherstorm rushes towards him, and he gasps in terror. What if he missed the gap? What if the Storm caught him and killed him? What if he died as soon as he got inside?

But no such catastrophe takes place. He and Essa fall into the Witherstorm, him ending up flat on his back and her somehow managing to land in a graceful somersault.

Jasper scrambles to his feet, looking wildly around. They’re now in a large, dim tunnel, made of strange purple blocks that he can’t identify and illuminated with an eerie, unnaturally magenta light.

He shudders. “I would hate to be alone right now. Thanks for coming with me.”

“Of course.” Essa says briefly. She’s understandably distracted, studying the place with her usual calmness. She seems almost…

No, that’s beyond ridiculous. But for a moment, the look on her face was one of…_recognition_. As though she’s been here before.

Another shiver ripples down Jasper’s spine. God, he hasn’t even been in here two full minutes and the place is already messing with his head.

Without a word, Jasper starts walking slowly down the tunnel, towards where the light seems to be coming from. He suddenly notices that, along with these weird little purple mushrooms, there are _people_ stuck in the walls and the floor. Their blank eyes glow with an unnerving violet light, and their skin is mottled grey and purple. The worst are their expressions, frozen eternally in grimaces or soundless shouts of fear.

Essa hesitantly approaches a pair stuck in the wall. “Whoa…I recognize these people. Weren’t they at EnderCon?” she asks in a low voice.

“They _were!”_ Jasper realizes. “Oh my god. Are they dead?”

“I…I don’t know.” Essa replies, then pivots away. “Let’s just keep moving. This makes me _incredibly_ uncomfortable.”

He follows as she continues down the tunnel. They haven’t gone far before an almighty shudder shakes the ground, and to Jasper’s shock, the tunnel actually _rotates_. The whole place turns on its side, sending both of them to the ground.

“What…what the hell?!” Jasper gasps. 

“I have no- AH!” Essa cries out, shying away from a person she’d landed right next to. She jumps to her feet, brushing herself off. “I think…I think the Storm knows we’re here.”

“What’s going on?” he asks, a little hysterically. “Is the whole Witherstorm turning, or is the inside moving separately? Why is it doing this?!”

Essa glances around, frowning. “My guess is that inside moves on its own. It’s probably some sort of method of…digesting…? the people in here? Or it’s a defense mechanism? Ugh. I don’t know, and I don’t particularly want to.” 

They have only taken a few steps before the same thing happens again, the floor becoming a wall and vice versa. Jasper manages to land mostly on his feet this time, and doesn’t waste any time in hurrying onwards.

“Whoa…” Jasper breathes, nearly tripping as he comes to a stop. The tunnel has suddenly opened up into a massive, vaguely circular space. The walls and ground are a mix of the darker stuff from the tunnel and a lighter block that looks a little like stone and a lot like nothing Jasper has ever seen before. The floor is crisscrossed with a strange powdery substance that reminds him of purple Redstone dust.

In the center of it all is the Command Block.

It rests on a podium of distinctly purple obsidian, and is shaded by several dark arches that look suspiciously like the Witherstorm’s tentacles. The whole place feels ominous and solemn, like anything can and will happen. 

“This is it.” Essa murmurs. Jasper hardly hears her, approaching the center with quiet footsteps.

“We meet again, Command Block.” he whispers. He pulls the enchanted sword from his inventory, the diamond blade shimmering even in the low, strange light. “Now, it’s time to destroy you.”

Jasper lifts the sword and brings it down hard on the Command Block. A bright flash of light engulfs him, and the block cracks- but it’s not enough.

Before he can strike again, the ‘arches’ around the block rapidly unfurl themselves, showing that they are indeed more Wither tentacles.

“Jasper, look out!” Essa shouts. The whole Witherstorm is shaking, and Jasper barely manages to avoid getting clobbered with one of the arms. He falls to the ground, staring in horror.

“I…I think we made it angry.” He says grimly.

Essa huffs, sounding a mix of irritated and scared. “I’ll say.”

The podium that the cracked Command Block rests on is rising now, lifting up from the ground. Jasper could probably still climb up easily enough, but not with all those tentacles around.

Essa cries out again, and pulls Jasper to the side just as a Wither arm materializes from a gap in the wall and takes a swing at him. They both dodge it, but as soon as they turn to go the other way, another tentacle knocks them to the ground.

“What…the _hell_.” Essa growls, picking herself up from the floor. She starts to brush herself off, then pauses. “Wait…Jasper, did you see this stuff?” she asks, lifting a hand and rubbing her fingers together.

He nods, noting that she’s covered in the purple dust from the floor. “Yeah. Looks like like Redstone, doesn’t it?”

She stares at the powdery stuff coating her fingers, an unfamiliar expression of pure fascination taking over her face. “It _does_. I wonder if…it’s possible that the Witherstorm made, I don’t know…a nervous system for itself.”

“A nervous system?” Jasper echoes.

Essa lifts her head to look at him again, her face still oddly entranced. “Yeah. Just look at it; how complex its defense system is. The…the Command Block is the brain, and it built the Storm as a body for itself. As it grew larger and stronger, it made these weird circuits to control it better. It’s _learning._ That’s incredible.”

“And dangerous. If that’s true, the Command Block could be even more powerful than we originally thought.” Jasper says. He looks around at the interior of the Storm again, making note of all the tentacles. He and Essa seem to be standing in a sort of blind spot for the moment, but they can’t stay there.

“Whatever happens, we have to destroy it.” Essa says confidently, whipping out the diamond sword she got from Ivor’s armory.

Jasper turns away, just as one of the tentacles has creeped close enough to strike him. It rears up, and he manages to slice off half of it as it shoots towards him.

“Whoa! Why didn’t I always carry an enchanted weapon?” he exclaims, staring in disbelief at the blade. He knew it was a powerful sword, but it was even sharper than he’d originally thought.

Another arm swings towards him, and he cuts it with the same ease as the first. The Storm is obviously agitated now, the dust circuits on the floor sparking intensely. 

“It’s doing everything it can to protect the Command Block!” he shouts to Essa.

She manages to hack off a tentacle, then turns to give him a determined look. “Which means we have to do everything we can to destroy it. I’ll keep it distracted. You get up there and break that thing.”

Jasper hurries up to the center podium again, trying to avoid the wildly swinging tentacles. He adjusts his grip on the sword. “Awesome weapon, don’t fail me now.” he mutters nervously.

An arm swoops towards him, and he swings the sword up to meet it, cutting it in half. He turns, scarcely in time to fend off another one. Essa is attacking from the other side, but even with their powerful weapons, they’re barely a match for the frenzied monster.

A dull roar echoes through the place, and three more tentacles come at him. He slices off two, but the third one almost gets him. Just in time, Essa drives her sword into the base of it, sending it coiling around to go after her instead.

With a shout of exertion, Jasper slams the enchanted sword into the Command Block again. There’s another brilliant flash as the diamond blade sinks in deep, but the block _still_ isn’t broken!

_How can it possibly be this strong?!_ Jasper wonders hysterically. _What if even this sword can’t destroy it?!_

With an ominous rumbling sound, the inside of the Witherstorm begins rotating again. It’s not just the tunnels this time- the whole central area begins to gradually flip upside down.

“Aaah!” he cries out in surprise, sliding off the podium and crashing to the ground. He rolls on instinct, trying to stay away from the massive gap that was previously part of the ceiling. He doesn’t know where exactly the Witherstorm is now- if Jasper fell in that pit while it was over stone, he’d be a goner.

He scrambles to his feet yet again. “Holy moly! This thing won’t die!”

Essa runs up to him, also looking upwards at the Command Block. “We gotta get up there somehow.”

Jasper glances over at her. Somehow, she’s still maintaining that mostly calm exterior, her mouth set in a determined line.

“Alright, new plan.” Jasper says, trying to retain his cool as well. He carefully scans the purple dome, paying careful attention to the placement of the black limbs and the patterns of the blocks forming the sides. “I’m gonna climb up there and use one of those tentacles to swing towards the Command Block.”

Essa frowns slightly. “That seems risky.” she notes.

“Then you stay down here. You know I’m counting on you if anything goes wrong.” he tells her. She watches him silently for a moment, then nods.

The ground is still shaking violently, which makes it more than a little difficult for Jasper to keep his balance as he makes his way up the side. There’s an equal mix of jumping and climbing, and he’s sure he looks a little ridiculous clambering up there. But this is the only choice, and he’s too absorbed in the fight to care at all what he looks like at this point.

He manages to get up to a mostly even spot that’s almost like a pathway. He’s still not quite high enough, though, so he pulls himself up onto a strange black mass.

Instantly, this proves to be a mistake. With a startling roar, the thing comes to life, becoming a fully formed Witherstorm head as Jasper watches. With a cry of surprise, he’s tossed off, landing with a bone-shaking _thud_ on the ground.

Essa is immediately there to help him up. He stares up in shock as the head gazes around, a purple tractor beam shining from its eye.

“Where did _that_ come from?!” he gasps, still brandishing the sword nervously.

Essa shakes her head. “I don’t know, but it’s not the only one. It’s just like I thought- it’s getting smarter. This might be even harder than we expected.”

She suddenly leaps away from him, shoving him away just in time for them both to avoid getting caught in a second tractor beam. The Wither heads are onto them now, two or three violet rays following Jasper insistently as he ducks and rolls to get away.

He finds himself right next to the massive pit again, and glances away from the depths as soon as he dares to look down. His eyes dart madly around, trying to figure out what to do.

“Jasper, look!” Essa prompts. She’s pressed against a far wall, pointing insistently to one of the heads.

Jasper follows her gaze and sees that one of the discarded tentacles has been picked up by the beam. He looks from the head, to the limbs surrounding the podium, to the cracked Command Block in the center of it all. “What…are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” he asks.

“Yes, the tractor beam! If you let it take you up, and get on top of the head, you’ll be close enough to grab onto one of the tentacles!” She calls.

Jasper sucks in a deep breath, then steps away from the edge of the hole, back in range of the tractor beams. It’s a mad idea, but it just might work.  
“Hey, you!” he hollers, with more bravado than he feels. “Bet you can’t catch me!”

The beam focuses on him, and begins to lift him up. Jasper lets out an instinctive shout of fear. After avoiding the Witherstorm’s clutches for so long, it’s surreal and terrifying to willingly be caught by the monster.

Just before the giant teeth snap him up, Jasper slashes the sword across the Wither’s eye. The tractor beam dies, and Jasper is left clinging to the top of the head.

The black mass shakes and roars as he clambers up onto it. He shakily stands, shifting his weight carefully to keep his balance. His eyes drift down for only a moment, and he’s temporarily winded as he realizes how high up he is. “Why I have to look down?” he ruefully asks himself, adjusting his grip on the sword again.

Before he can freak himself out any more, he backs up to get a slight running start, then takes a flying leap off the head. He’s airborne for only a second before he grabs ahold of one of the swinging tentacles, hanging on for dear life.

Jasper stares up at the Command Block. He doesn’t know if he can pull himself further up the limb with only one arm, but the other option is to just wait for the tentacle he’s holding onto to swing close enough to strike the Block, and he doesn’t know if it will.

He’s so focused that he doesn’t notice the other tentacle curling up from behind until it strikes, slinking quickly around his waist. He gasps in horror as it rips him away from the one he was holding onto, dangling him upside-down and sending the sword flying out of his hand.

The diamond blade lands on the far-away ground with an ugly clatter. “No no no no no!” Jasper shrieks, prying desperately at the Wither arm. It won’t budge- if anything, it just grips him tighter.

But thank god he’s not alone.

Essa dashes over and picks up the sword, her dark eyes widening. “Are you okay?” she shouts up.

“Ugh- I think so!” Jasper calls back, still trying to get the tentacle off him. His strength is waning, the adrenaline from the fight slowly running out. “But you gotta get the sword back to me somehow!”

“No problem.” She says confidently. Essa heads for the same part of the wall that Jasper tried to climb earlier, jumping nimbly from block to block. One of the tractor beams chases her, but she manages to evade it.

She pulls herself up on the same Wither head that Jasper did, the one with the now-dead tractor beam. Planting her feet, she drives the sword into the monster’s skull, gritting her teeth and staring at Jasper. “I don’t know how to get you out!” she exclaims, watching as the limb swings him tauntingly back and forth.

As if it knows what they’re talking about, the tentacle stretches further up his body, reaching ominously for his neck. Jasper tries to shove it away desperately, but it’s far stronger than him. “Then don’t!” he yells desperately. “Just break the Command Block, before it’s too late!”

A small curl of a smile flickers across her face, but it’s gone so soon that Jasper honestly doesn’t know if he imagined it or not. She wrenches the sword free of the Wither head, then mimics Jasper’s previous motion, leaping onto the nearest tentacle. Another dark arm tries to attack her, but she slices it off.

“Alright. It’s time to put an end to this thing, once and for all.” she growls.

With an almighty shout, she plunges the sword into the Command Block, the shimmering blade sinking in all the way to the hilt. The Witherstorm roars louder than anything Jasper has ever heard, and the whole place lights up blindingly as the wretched block finally shatters.

Instantly, all the tentacles go limp and the heads droop, freeing Jasper. He and Essa fall directly into the gaping pit below, her still holding the sword. Jasper lets out the scream he’s been holding in since the beginning of the fight, his voice echoing dramatically through the inside of the Storm as he falls back to earth.

They both plummet to the ground, though, to Jasper’s intense relief, they splash into a body of water that he believes used to be an underground lake in Soren’s fortress. Great chunks of the Witherstorm collapse around them, and Jasper narrowly avoids being smashed by one as he comes up for air.

Jasper gasps to regain his breath, looking up at the lightening sky. The darkness is already vanishing, being pushed aside by brilliant blue.

Essa is already swimming for the rocky shore as Axel and Olivia come running up. Jasper quickly follows her, eager to get his feet on solid ground. 

“There you are!” Olivia exclaims joyfully.

“Are you two alright?” Axel asks. “We thought you were…I mean, I didn’t think you’d made it.”

Shaking his head wildly in an attempt to rid his hair of water, Jasper says, “I’m fine, but what about you guys? Is everyone okay?”

“We’re great, Jasper. We’re more than great!” Olivia assures him, grinning. “The Witherstorms are gone!”

“It was so freakin’ awesome, they’re gonna be talking about you forever!” Axel tells him.

Lukas, Petra, and Reuben are the next to run up. “You did it! You actually did it!” Lukas shouts. Reuben races over to Jasper, snuffling joyfully and affectionately headbutting his legs.

“And look! My Withersickness is gone!” Petra says.

Jasper grins dazedly, unsure of what to say. This is what they’ve been fighting for this whole time, but somehow, now that they’re here, he suddenly isn’t sure what happens next.

Essa lays a steady hand on his shoulder. “We did it.” she says gently, and Jasper glances up to meet her eyes. Her expression is one of satisfaction, her dark eyes full of confidence. 

He’s not sure why she hasn’t yet set the story straight about who _really_ defeated the Witherstorm, but isn’t sure how to ask. He would’ve thought she’d want credit for being the one to deal the actual finishing blow; however, she doesn’t seem to care.

The rest of Jasper’s friends head back up the stony wasteland, and Jasper is surprised to see a massive group of people gathering there.

“It’s all the survivors. They’re…they’re all okay.” Olivia says, her voice cracking with relief. When the Witherstorm had been ‘defeated’ the first time, the people who had gotten out still hadn’t been quite right. But now, everyone looks fine, cheering and talking excitedly.

Jasper lets himself slowly relax. They really have done it.

“So, you and your gang of losers actually managed to save the world.” a familiar male voice remarks, though the words are devoid of the aggression they normally would carry. Jasper turns to see the other three Ocelots striding up. Aiden has his arms crossed, but he’s smiling good-naturedly.

For a moment, Jasper considers telling him ‘no thanks to you’ and turning away, but he quickly decides against it. Maybe this could be a chance to finally change things between their two groups. “Yeah, looks like it. I suppose I have you guys to thank for it, though. You really saved our asses back there.” he says gratefully.

“Ah, it was nothing.” Gill replies modestly.

Maya, on the other hand, props her hands on her hips and gives Jasper a smugly satisfied grin. “Too _right_ we did. We should get medals or something.”

Aiden rolls his eyes, and Jasper laughs. “Sure, I can probably arrange that.”

Jasper lets out a shout of surprise as Petra hug-tackles him from behind, nearly knocking him over. “It feels SO GOOD to have energy again! And to move without it hurting! I LOVE NOT BEING WITHERED! HAHAHA!”

He laughs with her, and Essa joins them. “Careful, Petra. I know you’re excited, but this boy just defeated a Witherstorm, for gods’ sake. It sure would be a shame if he was felled by an overenthusiastic friend.” she says jokingly. 

Jasper shakes his head slightly. “I’m fine.” he tells her honestly. In fact, he’s sure he’s never felt better.

They really did it.

He closes his eyes briefly, taking in all the happy shouts and snippets of conversation, along with the renewed sound of birds. There will be a lot of work to be done, but for the moment, at least, he can enjoy the unfettered victory.

\----

Jasper stands alone, peacefully watching the multicoloured light from the beacons shining into the night. He’s ridiculously happy, so much so that he’s not sure anything can bring him down.

It’s been just under a week since the defeat of the Witherstorm. There’s still a lot to rebuild, but Jasper welcomes the challenge.

The shock has finally started to wear off- they really _did_ save the world, and he and his friends have been crowned the New Order. With Jasper’s encouragement, Gabriel revealed the Order’s lies, finally telling the truth about their false legacy during his speech earlier in the day.

Jasper, Petra, Essa, Olivia, and Axel are the world’s heroes now, at least in the eyes of...well, pretty much everyone Jasper has met so far. After the speech, he spent the rest of the day talking with people. If he and his friends are going to replace the Order, Jasper is going to make sure they do it right.

The Ocelots had received their recognition as well. Jasper had been careful to thank them for helping at that crucial moment, and although Lukas is sticking with his old friends over the New Order, he’s becoming widely known as a hero, too.

Surprisingly enough, part of the reason Jasper is so happy right now is because of Aiden. Earlier in the evening, he’d intentionally sought Aiden out, thanking him again for rescuing them and asking if he might be willing to try out a truce. Aiden had agreed to start over, and the two boys had spent most of the evening talking and laughing and slowly starting to get to know each other all over again.

If it weren’t for Essa, Jasper probably wouldn’t have thought twice about trying to form a friendship with his former rival. But she’d gently steered him towards the idea, suggesting that maybe Aiden wasn’t meaning to be as rude as he was, and that there was something else going on.

Jasper is still infinitely glad he’d met Essa. With his old heroes revealed as liars, it’s a relief to still have someone to look up to. She’s helped greatly with the reconstruction so far, being a consistent supplier of build ideas and tricks to get by with the few resources they have.

He’s so deep in his thoughts that he doesn’t notice the elegant woman emerging from the shadows of the nearby buildings until she quietly calls his name. “Hey, Jasper. What’s going on?”

Jasper startles, then reaches up to scratch nervously at the back of his neck. “Oh, hi Essa. Uh…nothing really. I’m just thinking.”

She nods halfheartedly, her dark eyes trained on the beacons in front of them.

“What are you doing out here?” he asks cautiously, noticing how distracted she seems.

“Ah…I was looking for you, actually.” she says in a vaguely guilty tone of voice. “I…this is going to be a little hard, Jasper. I don’t want to have to tell you this right now, when everything is so good, but I have no choice.”

Jasper stares up at her, wide-eyed. “Huh? Tell me what? What’s going on?”

Her expression is half guilty, half sad. “I’ve been keeping a secret from you. A big one. I’m, ah…I’m not _from here_.” She says delicately.

“What do you mean, ‘from here’? From where? You already told me you were a nomad.” he pries.

She sighs, looking away from him again. “From…_here_. There isn’t really a better way to say it. Jasper…I’m from another dimension.”

His eyes grow wide, and he takes an unconscious step back. “You’re…_really?_ Oh, I _knew_ there was something funny about you!” he says triumphantly.

Essa doesn’t even glance at him, but he doesn’t care. “How did you get here? What’s your dimension like? Are we talking parallel universes, or something completely different? How come you’re _here_ instead of your own dimension?”

She replies to this with a small, cryptic smile. “Straight into asking the big questions, huh? Well, I’ll tell you this- I’ve known about our alternate dimensions for only a little while. I’m here because…long story short, my dimension is a lot more dangerous than this one. I’ve made some mistakes, and there’s a lot of people back there who are out to get me. Coming here was a last resort, an insane, desperate effort to escape before they succeeded in killing me. Obviously, my timing in coming here wasn’t the best…” she broke off with a rueful little laugh. “…but that doesn’t matter now, because they’ve found me.”

“Oh, no. Really?” Jasper asks worriedly, not even taking a moment to question her statements.

Essa nods sadly. “Yes. They’ve figured out where I am, and I know they’ll be coming to end me. And possibly you too, since you’ve helped me so much.”

“Well…what can we do?” he inquires after a moment. “There’s gotta be some way to stop them. We’re heroes now- we can’t let some low-grade villains push us around.” 

“You really want to help me?” Essa asks softly, seeming perfectly surprised. “I didn’t…the truth is, I came out here tonight to say goodbye. I was planning on facing them alone.”

Jasper shakes his head. “Not with me around. Of course I want to help you. After everything you’ve done for me, I think I owe you a lifetime of helping with past enemies.”

She smiles. “Oh, thank you. Really, Jasper, you have no idea how much this means to me. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve, but between the two of us, they won’t stand a chance.”

Essa slowly draws her plain diamond sword from her inventory. She’d given the Command Block enchanted one back to Jasper, claiming that she didn’t feel safe wielding such a powerful weapon. “In that case, we should go soon. Our best chance is to be there before them, so we can take them by surprise before they manage to hurt us.”

“Go where?” Jasper asks, unable to contain his excitement.

“You’ll see.” Essa says with a mysterious little smile. She lifts the sword and begins tracing shapes in the air, and to Jasper’s colossal surprise, the sword tip actually leaves glowing white shapes behind.

“Whoa…” he breathes.

Essa slashes the sword downwards, cutting through the symbols she drew and opening a brilliant white gap in the air. “This is a gate to the In-Between, the space that lies between dimensions.” she says simply, then gestures to the glowing abyss. “After you. I promise, it’s perfectly safe.”

Jasper is still staring in wonder, and it takes a moment before he steps forward and lets himself disappear into the white. Bright colourless mist swirls around him for a few seconds, then fades as he steps out into a whole new dimension.

Essa appears immediately behind him, but he hardly notices, gazing around at the In-Between. He’s utterly entranced by it, the four other white gates, the cracked ground, even the red-splashed dark sky.

He turns in a full circle, mouth agape as he stares. Eventually, he shakes his head determinedly and focuses back on Essa.

“What do we do now?” he asks.

Her diamond sword is still in her hand, and her eyes are focused on a gate several paces away from where they stand.  
“Now? Now, Jasper, we wait. We wait for those villains to show themselves, and then we end this before it can get worse.”


	40. Blackout

As soon as I woke up, I knew that something had changed. For one thing, the floor of my room had inexplicably been transformed to grass, small flowers blooming alongside my bed, bookshelves, crafting table, and everything else.

For another, the sky was gone.

Well, okay, I suppose it’s not possible for the sky to actually be _gone_, but that’s what it seemed like. The sun, which should have been rising when I awoke, was absent. There were no stars or moon or even clouds to be seen, just a blank grey nothingness that hung over the world like a blanket. Light still shone down from an indistinct source, but it wasn’t right, too dim and muted to be sunlight.

I soon discovered that the floor of the entire Order hall was now grass, and, had I not already known that it was a result of our collapsing reality, I would’ve thought it was a clever practical joke.

I waited downstairs as my friends slowly each woke up. Very few words were exchanged as we prepared for the battle to come- there wasn’t much left to do or say, and we all knew it.

Petra tried to insist on coming with us again, but seemed to know that I’d refuse to let her and didn’t seem surprised when I did exactly that. She and Lukas shared a long goodbye hug, which I supposed meant they’d finally made up.

“Do we even know what’s going to happen?” Radar asked cautiously as I was drawing the mystical symbols to open the gate.

“Of course not.” Julia replied. “We know this is our last desperate effort to stop Essa, but that’s all. Maybe we’ll manage to take her by surprise, or maybe she’ll be waiting for us when we get there. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

I slashed my sword downwards, opening the gate. “Last chance, you three. You don’t have to come with us.” I told Lukas, Aiden, and Radar.

Lukas shot me an unamused look. “Doesn’t matter if we have to or not. We _are_.”

“Fine.” I said curtly. “Then let’s go.”

I led the way across the threshold, sinking into the strange realm of white. I shuddered, memories of the nightmarish void space resurfacing. We had to win today, or a version of that twisted future might come true.

I stepped out into the In-Between, scanning the area cautiously with my sword still in my hand. The place was a total wreck, the ground shot through with cracks and the sky darker than ever before. Only the gates looked mostly the same, four of them glowing brightly and the fifth…

_Oh, no_.

The fifth and smallest gate was much brighter than before, but that wasn’t the problem. No, the problem was the two people standing in front of it.

Essa wore grey-and-pink armour and a self-satisfied smirk, her long hair pulled elegantly out of the way of her face. I didn’t know the other person; a fairly short boy with pale skin and messy auburn hair, dressed in elaborate red armour, but I easily recognized who he was.

_The last Prime. _

I stood frozen as the rest of my friends came through the gate behind me. Julia and Aiden both had diamond swords, Lukas had his enchanted bow, and Radar was brandishing his favorite shield. We were more than ready for a fight, but I wasn’t sure if Essa was going to make it that simple.

Julia saw Essa and Jasper almost as soon as she came through. “Uh-oh. Is that who I think it is?” she asked in a low voice.

“I think so.” Radar replied cautiously.

Essa strode towards us, swinging her diamond sword carelessly. “Well, look at this. Jess, how on _earth_ did you get out of there? I was hoping I’d trapped you for good that time.”

“The power of friendship.” I snapped sarcastically.

Lukas had an arrow nocked in his bow; the string pulled taut. “Don’t try anything, Essa. If you do, you’ll pay for it with your life.”

Jasper suddenly stepped in front of Essa, stopping her from coming any closer. “Not on my watch.” he announced, angling the sword towards Lukas. His posture was confident and determined, but his face seemed uncertain.   
Did he recognize Lukas, or get that sense of familiarity from me or Julia? I couldn’t tell, and wasn’t willing to bet on it.

“Kid, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Julia said, moving towards him. The gap between us and the other two Primes had shrunk, and it would only take a strong leap to get me close enough to stab Essa.

But even if I was near enough, would I be able to? I didn’t want to hurt the young Prime, but if I attacked and he tried to defend her…

“She’s been lying to you.” Aiden put in. Jasper’s head whipped up to look at him, and he narrowed his large teal eyes in confusion.

“How would you know?” Jasper asked confrontationally.

Essa gently put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t listen to them,” she said in a low voice. “They’re just trying to get in your head.”

“You _hypocrite!”_ Radar exclaimed from beside me. He was in a defensive stance, the shield held up at the ready. “All you DO is get into people’s heads!”

Essa’s dark eyes focused intently on him. _“You._” she said in a voice radiating anger. She lifted her sword, pointing it at him. “I’ve been hoping to run into _you_ again.”

Julia’s eyes changed suddenly to the Admin-red. “Don’t even think about touching him.” she snapped.

“And just what are you going to do if I do?” Essa challenged. “Encase me in obsidian again? You saw how well _that _worked last time.”

As Julia said something rude back to her, I took a small step backwards, murmuring to Aiden. “You and Lukas need to get out of here. See if you can sneak away and hide. Someone’s about to snap- I don’t know if it’s going to be Essa or Julia, but this is about to get bad. Get out of Essa’s sight, and try to get to Jacek’s timeline. I think we’re gonna need him.”

Aiden frowned. “Isn’t it kind of risky to go to his timeline with how reality is? Not to mention that there’s a version of Lukas there, and we don’t want to cause paradoxes…”

“Doesn’t matter now. Just be as stealthy as you can, and if all else fails, throw caution to the winds and find Jace.” I said, keeping an eye on the two female Primes.

Essa had moved closer to Julia, holding her arms out dramatically. “Hit me with all you’ve got, _Admin_. You can’t even scratch me.”

“Wanna bet?” Julia growled. Switching her sword to her left hand, she curled her right hand into a fist. As she did, gold slowly formed over her fingers in sharp-looking spikes, creating a deadly fighting gauntlet.

Everything was perfectly still for one unreal second…and then Essa lunged.

Julia drove her fist into Essa’s chest, but the taller woman hardly seemed to notice. She swung her sword up in an arc, and Julia barely ducked in time to avoid being decapitated.

I charged, but Essa was ready for me. She turned, lifting her sword to meet me head-on. The edges of our blades rung against each other as she pushed back against me, forcing me to plant my feet to stop myself from getting shoved away.

She suddenly sidestepped away, making me lose my balance, and pivoted to attack from the other side. I only just managed to dodge her blade, and returned with a strike of my own that was quickly deflected.

I glanced around to see why Julia hadn’t come to back me up, and discovered that she was now locked in a swordfight with Jasper. They shouldn’t have been easily matched- Julia had a few inches and a number of years of experience on him -but she was hampered by the fact that she didn’t dare hurt him. Radar was backing her up, carefully deflecting Jasper’s blows with his shield. 

I sent a jab towards Essa’s stomach, but she surprised me by grabbing the flat side of my sword, the resistant metal of her gloves keeping her from getting cut. I twisted the blade away from her, dodging as she slashed at me again. She was keeping me strongly on the defensive, attacking with a flurry of strikes fast enough that I didn’t have a chance to return with any of my own.

She was an unpredictable combatant, jumping away or switching tactics at random times. I wasn’t a bad swordfighter by half, but this was proving to be a challenge.

Essa lunged again, but instead of striking out with her weapon, she swept her leg under and knocked my feet out from under me. I cried out and fell, and hardly managed to roll out of the way as she thrust the blade downwards, trying to impale me.

Suddenly, Aiden was there, swinging his sword down at Essa from behind. She turned with what seemed like superhuman speed, laughing as the two diamond blades crashed against each other. “Stay out of this, you idiot. This is a Prime fight.” she proclaimed in a singsong voice.

I leaped to my feet. Aiden was taller and probably stronger than Essa, but I already knew she was faster and a better fighter. He’d already gotten hurt once because of her, and I wasn’t going to let it happen again.

An arrow suddenly flew past me and hit Essa, the tip of it burying in her left forearm, just above her elbow. She shrieked in surprise, almost losing her grip on her sword. Aiden tried to press the advantage, but apparently even an arrow wound wasn’t enough to make her lose focus. She gritted her teeth and put all her weight against him, angling the tip of her sword closer and closer to his face.

Aiden turned and ducked out of the way, and I ran to strike before Essa had time to bring the sword down on him. “Lukas, Aiden, get out of here!” I yelled, glancing over at Lukas for a moment.

That was a mistake. While I was distracted, Essa tripped me again, and when I stumbled, she kicked my hand and knocked my sword away. I shouted in pain and surprise, reaching for the weapon.

Essa grabbed the front of my shirt and threw me down, then drove the tip of her sword into the shattered ground beside my head. For a moment, I thought she’d just tried to kill me and somehow missed, but it wasn’t as simple as that.

Shadowy tendrils of blackness, the polar opposite of what had come from Jo’s timeline when she died, burst out of the ground. They wrapped firmly around my arms, pinning me down. I stared at them in shock, wondering what had just happened. Did Essa just _summon_ these things? How?!

Essa smirked down at me for a moment, reaching up to tug the arrow out of her arm with only a slight wince. “Good effort, Jess. But not quite good enough.” she said condescendingly, then lifted her head to gaze at the battle that was still going on between Julia, Radar, and Jasper.

“Radar! Julia! Look out!” I shouted desperately. 

Wrenching her sword out of the ground, Essa walked purposefully towards them. Julia’s eyes turned red and gold again, and she made a motion towards Essa with her free hand. A giant fist of gold blocks flew at the other Prime, but Essa easily dodged. It swung around to try again, and this time she lifted her sword to stab it head-on, shattering it to pieces. 

Lukas shot another arrow at Essa, but she heard him and turned, slicing the projectile out of the air. I didn’t know how she was reacting so fast, but it didn’t look good for us.

Jasper backed off as Essa approached, though I noticed he still held his weapon at the ready. Julia rose a few inches of the ground and flew swiftly towards Essa, brandishing the sword in front of her.

Right as she was about to skewer Essa right through the heart, the taller woman suddenly _vanished_. Julia yelped in surprise, dropping back to the ground and looking around madly. No doubt she was remembering the last time Essa had pulled this trick: when Jo had died.

With a strange flash noise like a gate opening, Essa reappeared behind her.

“JULIA!” I bellowed in warning. Julia started to turn, eyes aglow, but it was too late.   
Essa slammed her fist into Julia’s side as hard as she could. I swear I heard something crack, but Julia’s shriek all but drowned it out.

Her eyes went back to brown, and she collapsed. Again, Essa stabbed the tip of her sword into the ground, and the same black tendrils burst up to hold down Julia.

Essa shook her head in mock sadness. “I’ll give you one thing, you’re incredibly tenacious. If only courage made up for lack of brains and skill.”

She hefted the sword out of the ground, then turned to give Radar an evilly thoughtful look. “It’s one thing for these two useless Primes to be stupid enough to try to fight me. That’s just who we are. But you? Up to this point, you’ve been nothing more than an innocent bystander.”

Radar took a step back, still keeping the shield in front of him. He looked scared, and from my spot on the ground, I hollered, “Don’t you dare hurt him! I’ll kill you, Essa! I swear it!”

Essa cocked her head to the side, a slow, close-lipped smile forming on her face. “You hear that?” she asked quietly, stepping closer to Radar. “You’re not a bystander anymore.”

“Then what am I?” he countered, not coming off as brave as I think he was hoping to.

She set the tip of her sword on the ground in front of her, leaning forward on it ever so slightly. “Cannon fodder.”

The sword blade was shoved into the soft ground, and a mass of the dark tendrils shot out of the ground and reached up Radar’s legs. He cried out in horror, but couldn’t run away as they quickly worked their way up his body, twining around his neck and lifting him off the ground.

“Radar!” Julia yelled. I strained desperately against the black things holding me down, but they didn’t budge an inch. “Stop it, Essa! He hasn’t done anything to you! Put him down!”

Radar let out a pained gasp as the tendrils constricted, and Essa gave me a look full of venom. “Oh, maybe _he_ hasn’t done anything. But you have. You two have made life _extremely _difficult for me, and I don’t plan on just letting that go.”

She lifted the sword again and began tracing symbols in the air, clearly opening a gate. As she did this, I could see the shadowy vines around Radar getting tighter and tighter, and he scrabbled helplessly at the ones around his throat in an attempt to get more air. His eyes were terrified, and his lips were already starting to turn blue.

“You could’ve taken my deal, Jess, and then this would already be over. Both our timelines would already be fixed, and you’d never have to worry about any of your friends again.”   
The gate opened, and she turned to give me a patronizing glare. “How’s that moral high ground feel now?”

Another small gasp from Radar, and I looked helplessly back at him just in time to see him go limp. For now, I knew he was only passed out, but that didn’t stop my heart from giving a terrified jolt.

“Essa, maybe you shouldn’t…” Jasper interjected suddenly, looking between her and Radar. 

Essa ignored him. “This is what happens when you cross me, Jess.” she hissed. She flicked a hand up, and the tendrils lifted Radar up and all but threw his unresponsive body through the gate. 

“Radar! NO!” I screamed, struggling against my bonds again. “Where did you send him?!”

Walking confidently to the center of the circle of gates, Essa gave me a wickedly satisfied smile. “Like that matters now. You couldn’t get there even if you _weren’t_ trapped in a prison of your own.”

Before I’d even fully processed this, she pushed the diamond blade into the ground once more, wedging it directly into a particularly wide crack. There was an ominous rumbling noise, and then a giant section of the In-Between vanished, giving way to a strange blank void.

I stared, waves of shock and horror washing over me. What _was_ that? How the hell had she created it? _Had_ she created it?

It reminded me vaguely of the empty voidspace I’d been trapped in before, though this one was a dull grey and seemed…blanker. While that one had been swathed in faint white clouds, this was just _nothing._

The tendrils holding my arms suddenly started to move inexplicably, dragging me towards the gap. I tried to dig my feet in, but I wasn’t nearly strong enough to put up any sort of fight.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aiden disappearing silently into the gate to Jacek’s timeline. Lukas followed him, his expression wracked with horror.

_Good. So maybe this isn’t all quite as hopeless as it seems._ I thought. Of course, we didn’t know what was going on in Jace’s timeline, but for the moment I could hang onto at least a fragment of hope. 

Julia, who hadn’t seen Aiden and Lukas, was shouting furiously at Essa as she was dragged towards the void space as well. Her eyes were Admin-red again, but she didn’t seem to be able to do anything to stop either of us from being hauled to the edge of the gap.

The black tendrils dangled me over the edge and let me fall, and I sank into the grey nothingness as though it was water. Falling deeper and deeper, my body feeling terrifyingly sluggish and slow to respond the further I fell.

The gap was starting to close, and I anxiously tried to get back up towards solid ground. But although I could move fine enough, there wasn’t anything to push off of, and nothing I did allowed me to rise back to the In-Between.

I looked up at Essa and Jasper standing at the edge, the former still smiling triumphantly and the latter looking highly concerned. “Is…is that it?” Jasper asked nervously, looking up at her.

“Almost.” Essa replied simply.

She flicked her hand, and before Jasper could even scream, more of those dark shadowy tendrils had burst out of the ground, wrapping around him and lifting him up the same way they had Radar.

“E-Essa?! What are you doing?!” Jasper exclaimed in shock. He struggled against the bindings, to no avail.

Essa shook her head slowly. “I really am sorry for this, Jasper. It’s not personal- you were actually quite pleasant, to tell the truth. But as heartbreaking as it might be, _a pawn is a pawn._ And I can’t afford to let anyone else run free who could interfere with my plans, now can I?”

The truth of the situation seemed to be beginning to dawn on Jasper, and he fought harder against the tendrils. “No! Essa, please! What are you _doing_?! I don’t even know what your plans are! I’ll stay out of your way, I promise! NO! DON’T DO THIS!” 

Just like Julia and I, he was lifted up and dropped unceremoniously into the grey void, still screaming “ESSAAAA!”

She waved slightly and turned away, disappearing from view just a heartbeat before the gap closed. The three of us were left floating in a blank grey nothingness, with no distinguishable up or down…and no way out.

“No! NO!” Jasper shouted. “What…I don’t…why would she do this?” His voice dropped off to a disbelieving murmur, still staring up at where Essa had disappeared.

“Because she’s a conniving, self-absorbed _bitch_.” Julia contributed. Her legs were bent as though she was sitting, with her arms crossed angrily over her chest.

Jasper whirled around, looking between the two of us as though just remembering we were there as well. He retrieved his sword from his inventory, holding it out in front of him. “Don’t try anything! I’m not afraid to hurt you.” he threatened.

I held my hands out in a surrendering gesture. My movements were strangely slowed, and I felt unreasonably relaxed. “We’re not gonna do anything. I don’t even have my sword anymore.” I said calmly.

“What is this? Where are we?” He demanded, a note of panic still audible in his voice.

“I don’t know. I think it’s some aspect of the In-Between, like a wrinkle in the fabric between our dimensions. Or something like that. I think Essa really got us good this time.” Julia remarked bitterly.

Jasper swung the sword down. “No! No, that can’t be right. What’s really going on? I know Essa, and she wouldn’t do…any of the things she just did!”

His tone wasn’t as confident as the words implied. I sighed softly. “Kid, I don’t know what to tell you. _Do_ you really know Essa? Can you honestly say that you truly know who she is? Because if you did, you would’ve seen this coming.” 

He hesitated for several long moments, studying me. “…Who are you really? Who is _Essa_ really?” he asked suspiciously. 

Julia and I exchanged a look. “Before we answer that, I think we first have to ask, who did Essa tell you we were? What did she present herself as?” Julia asked.

After a significant pause, Jasper returned the sword to his inventory, evidently deciding we were no longer a threat. “I met her only a little while ago. She just kinda showed up, and offered to help me look for my pet pig after he’d run off. She said she was an explorer and just happened to be passing through. She…she was so _nice_. I trusted her. I thought…I thought we were friends.” he explained, his voice gradually becoming sadder. He took a deep breath before continuing. “A lot happened between then and now. There was this whole long quest, and…well, long story short, she helped me save the world. I know that sounds ridiculous, but-”

“It doesn’t.” I interrupted. “We know about the Witherstorm. We know…a lot more about your life than you probably do at the moment.”

“How?” he asked. “Essa always seemed to know a lot too, but _how?_ Does it have something to do with the different dimensions?”

Julia straightened up slightly, which was a little difficult to do considering we were floating in nothing. “Wait. What’d she tell you about the dimensions?”

Jasper shrugged, a little uncomfortably. “Not much. There wasn’t a lot of time for long explanations. She just said that she was from a different dimension, and that hers was a lot more dangerous. I kinda just…took her at her word.”

“Well, to put it simply, there’s not just ‘different dimensions’. They’re parallel. So each of us here, and Essa, have all, well, lived mostly the same life. In our respective dimensions- they’re more often called timelines, actually -Julia and I are the famous Wither-Slayer.” I explained briefly. “We’re all different people, in the same role.” 

“Essa made a lot of mistakes in her life. She made bad decisions, and got people killed. Her timeline is a mess, and she’s trying to _fix_ that mess by turning back time, which she’s doing by manipulating the timelines and throwing the universe out of balance.” Julia rambled. Jasper’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything as Julia continued. “That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that she was _never_ your friend- she only went into your timeline to fuck up the universe. She gained your trust and joined your adventure purely for the sake of changing things for _her_ benefit.”

Jasper slowly placed his hands on either side of his face, staring into nothing. “Oh.” he murmured, pain evident in his tone. “I…I never suspected a thing. She…she supported me through the whole adventure…she helped me make hard decisions, and I looked up to her…none of it was _real?_ She was using me, all along?”

Julia’s expression softened. “Yeah. She was. You heard what she said about you being a pawn. Jasper, I know it’s too late for this now, but she’s _dangerous_. She’s smart, cruel, and ruthless, and she only cares about herself. I wish we could’ve gotten to you and warned you sooner, but it was too risky.”

The young Prime slowly curled in on himself, lifting his knees to his chest and hiding his face in his hands. “I knew there was something off about her.” he whispered miserably. “Right at the beginning, I sensed there was something suspicious about her story, and I considered she might be dangerous. But…but I _ignored_ it. I thought I was being paranoid, because she was so friendly and understanding. Oh, god. What have I _done?”_

Julia moved closer to him, touching his knee gently. Jasper lifted his head to look at her with eyes that were far too sad and far too tired for a boy his age. “I never really stood a chance, did I?”

Tears sparked in her eyes as well as she murmured, “No. No, you didn’t. None of us did.”

“So you didn’t really chase her out of her dimension. It was the other way around.” he guessed, filling in the gaps of the story Essa must have told him.

I nodded. “Yeah. All we’ve been trying to do is save our worlds.”

Jasper covered his face again. “I was so stupid. To think, this whole time, I’ve been nothing but happy that I met her, and that’s _exactly what she wanted_…”

“It’s not your fault. She’s smart- she managed to trap, manipulate, and lie to us as well, even when we had our guard up.” Julia told him. Jasper dragged in a deep, shuddering breath. His eyes were still moist, but his expression was slowly becoming more determined.

“What can we do now? Is there…is there any way to fix my dim- uh, timeline?” he asked carefully.

Julia and I both hesitated. “I don’t know.” I admitted sadly. “We’re stuck in here, and even if we weren’t…I don’t even know what Essa did to your timeline, so I’m not sure if it can be fixed.”

“This might be an insensitive question, but after you defeated the Witherstorm…who died?” Julia asked.

He blinked, looking shocked. “_Died?_ No one! W-was someone _supposed _to?”

“No one died?!” Julia confirmed. “What happened, then, when you defeated it?”

Jasper fidgeted nervously with his red armour. “Well…I was preparing to go up in the Witherstorm…and Lukas offered to go with me. He said it would be too dangerous and scary to go alone. But Essa told him no, and said she’d come with me instead.”

Pieces slowly started snapping together in my mind’s eye. Lukas dying in Jasper’s timeline would’ve been a pretty big deviation, but not big enough. No, to make a truly catastrophic deviation, she needed to make sure _no one _died. So she helped Jasper defeat the Witherstorm, and she managed to get out alive because she already knew what was going to happen.

Julia met my eyes, and judging by the horrified expression creeping across her face, she’d reached the same conclusion as me. Then she stared at Jasper again. “What happened after you went up?” she asked.

“We…wait, I thought you guys said you knew what happened.” he said dubiously.

“We know how it went down in our timelines, but not what Essa did to yours.” I clarified.

Jasper nodded. “Oh…right. Well, we fought it. It took a long time to kill it- it took three strikes to destroy the Command Block, and while I was trying to do that, the Storm kept adapting and thwarting me. If it wasn’t for Essa, I probably wouldn’t have been able to defeat it. At the very end, I got trapped, and she was the one to deliver the finishing blow.” he explained.

I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. “Wait. Did you just say…_Essa_ was the one to destroy the Command Block?” I asked in a whisper, praying I’d somehow heard him wrong.

“Yeah. I mean, I managed to hit it the first two times, but she did the last. Does that…does that matter?” Jasper inquired anxiously.

“Jess? What are you thinking?” Julia asked.

I pressed a hand against my forehead, horrorstruck. “Yes. Yes, it does matter.” I murmured. “If Essa was manipulating you the whole time, making choices for you…and if _she_ was the one to defeat the Witherstorm…then that means _she _might be the Prime of that timeline. Not you.”

Julia gasped. “Oh, _no_. Jess, that’s…oh god. Was that her plan all along?”

“It had to’ve been.” I said heavily. “Being an original Prime made her powerful enough already, but being the Prime of _two_ timelines? That’s…that’s…that would make her as good as unstoppable.”

“But then what else does that mean?!” Julia exclaimed. “How does that affect Jasper’s timeline? If we kill her, would that destroy _both_ timelines? Or would the Prime status revert to him? Does it work like that?”

I shook my head absent-mindedly, even though she seemed to be talking more to herself than me. “I have no idea.”

“Wait, I’m lost.” Jasper said in a quavering voice. “What are you talking about? What’s a Prime, and how does that…what do you mean _d-destroy_ my timeline?”

Julia let out a heavy sigh. “It’s a lot to explain, and I…I don’t know how we would even figure any of this out. Jess, if you’re right- and I think you are -then I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“It doesn’t matter.” I said bitterly, crossing my arms over my chest. “We’re stuck here, and we can’t do anything about any of this. I think…Essa may have won for real this time.”

“No! No, she _can’t_. There’s gotta be something we can do! We’ve come so far; it can’t be the end _now!”_ She exclaimed desperately.

“Julia, this is just like the void space she sent me to before. I only got out of that because of you and your Admin powers. The rest of our allies can’t do anything- Radar is somewhere else in the timelines, possibly _dead,_ and even though Lukas and Aiden went to Jacek’s timeline, there’s no guarantee that they’ll find him or that he’ll be able to help. Unless an absolute miracle comes along, we’re trapped.” I intoned hopelessly.

Jasper was watching us both with sad, fearful eyes. He didn’t say anything, just wrapped his arms around himself as though he was cold.

Julia covered her eyes with her hands, shaking her head. “I can’t even access my Admin powers…god, _no_. This can’t…this can’t the end. It can’t…”

But her protests eventually faded as time passed. Like I’d felt at the beginning of being trapped here, this void space did something to slow down our minds and bodies.

The seconds stretched on, changing to minutes and gradually to hours. The three of us were still and mostly quiet, waiting for rescue or ruin that didn’t seem intent on coming.

I let myself sink into a stupor, my mind wandering idly as my body floated in the blank grey. _At least,_ I thought hazily, _my world is in good hands. Even when it all goes to hell, at least I know that my friends will take care of it_.

And there I stayed as the known universe fell to ruin; hopeless, frictionless in the void. 


	41. Backs Against the Wall

I don’t know how long we drifted there, lost in the empty grey fog. There was something about the place that numbed the mind, making it more and more difficult to move properly or even think coherently the longer we were there. 

It didn’t take long for me to completely lose myself in the blank void. It was like I’d been frozen in time, my worried thoughts eventually fading into an indistinguishable blur.

Essa had won. She’d successfully locked away all her significant enemies, and there was nothing left standing between her and the domination of the universe.

Well, there _was_ still Giselle, I supposed. But I didn’t know how that would play out, and it didn’t matter anyways. Either way, reality was about to fall into the hands of a wickedly vindictive madwoman- did it really matter which one?

I looked idly at the other two Primes…or, technically speaking, the other Prime and the boy who was supposed to have been a Prime. Jasper was curled with his knees tucked against his chest, hiding his face in his arms. Julia’s eyes were closed, her body loose and relaxed as though she was asleep. Her dark hair floated around her face as though she was underwater, and her expression was tense and sad. I shut my eyes again, not having enough energy to keep them open. 

This was even worse than the horrific future-space Essa had trapped me in before. I hadn’t actually been able to, but least there I’d had a _chance_ of hanging onto my senses.   
This place didn’t bother to trick your brain into giving up. It just consumed you.

Of all the ways I thought I might go; this wasn’t one of them. I wondered distantly if Essa was going to leave us in here for all eternity, or if she was going to send at least Julia and I back to our timelines and carry out the things she’d threatened back in the End.

I was far enough gone that I couldn’t even care. It didn’t matter anymore.

Time stretched on.

Seconds, minutes, hours, ticking by and yet not moving forward at all.

It didn’t matter.

I don’t know how much time passed before I felt myself gradually rising, pulled upwards by an indistinguishable force. I didn’t notice it at first, too far down under layers of mental fog.

But even once I did realize what was happening, I couldn’t do a thing. I was paralyzed, as though my mind had been cleanly separated from my physical form.

Fragments of thoughts drifted idly, as I registered what was going on. Slowly, ever so slowly, my brain started working again, thoughts breaking through the intense haze.   
_What…what is happening? Is Essa getting us out to exact her revenge? _ I wondered. _Or could this be…a rescue?_

I couldn’t move, couldn’t even open my eyes to confirm either of these ideas. I began to panic, as I tried harder to move my limbs and nothing happened. I was aware that I was still rising, but aside from that, I couldn’t sense my body at _all_. I was utterly powerless to fight back against or help whomever was pulling us out, if that was indeed what was happening. I’d dealt with sleep paralysis in the past, but this was a hundred times worse.

Was there actually a chance that it was Lukas, Aiden, and Jacek coming to our rescue, or was I deluding myself? How long had it been since Essa trapped us in there? Had she already managed to overthrow reality?

I was grateful for the questions, even though they were scattered and worried. I hadn’t even realized how deeply the fog had settled into my mind, but it was a great relief to be able to think coherently again.

Voices floated slowly down to me, seeming like they were coming from a million miles away. I couldn’t identify the speakers or make out what they were saying, but they sounded worried. So most likely _not_ Essa, then. 

I suddenly caught a few disjointed fragments of words, and distantly recognized the voices that went with them.

_Jess…oh god, Jess, tell me…okay…please, please tell me you’re… _

_I don’t…he can hear you, Lukas...this is harder than it…shut up, please…_

I gasped as my eyes snapped open, my body collapsing onto the ground of the In-Between. I rolled onto my stomach, lifting myself partially up and dry-heaving as a thousand unpleasant sensations rippled through me. Pain, _everywhere_. Every single muscle in my body was in agony, as though I’d just been thrown off a cliff or two.

“Holy…_fuck_.” I panted. “What just _happened_.”

Lukas crouched next to me as I lay on the ground, resting a hand on my back. “Are you okay?” he asked anxiously.

“I don’t even know what okay _means_ right now. That was so many different kinds of fucked up.” I wheezed. I started to push myself up into a sitting position, then gave up and flopped onto my back.

Jacek helped Julia sit up as she massaged her forehead and groaned loudly. “What _was_ that? Why does everything hurt so much?” she snapped.

“I don’t know what it was, but I know I never want to come across anything even remotely like that ever again. I _hate_ being paralyzed.” I complained, draping one arm over my eyes.

“What happened to you guys?” Jacek asked anxiously. “What was that…place, thing, whatever?”

“It…ugh, it did all sorts of things. It felt like it was detaching my mind from my body, freezing my physical self, and turning my brain to mush, all at the same time. It got to the point where I couldn’t think at all, couldn’t even _feel_ things.” Julia explained with a shudder. “And even that doesn’t do it justice. It was a _nightmare_.”

I slowly sat up, still wincing. Every joint protested as I moved, but the agony was gradually fading down to an insistent ache. Lukas supported me as I got up, allowing me to lean on him as I struggled to work through the pain.

Now that I was on my feet, I saw that although we were still in the In-Between, we were no longer inside the circle of gates. I could see the white shapes in the near distance, but we were on the outside, among the strange misshapen towers. Looking closer, I realized that the bizarre structures were made of some kind of mottled dark-blue stone, the likes of which I had never seen before.

“I’m just glad we got you out before anything else happened.” Jacek commented.

I was about to reply to this when Aiden suddenly said, “Uh…guys? He’s not waking up.”

I turned to see him kneeling next to Jasper’s prone form, gently shaking the boy’s shoulder as he lay motionless on his side. Jasper’s eyes moved below closed lids, and his face was deathly pale.

“Let’s just give him a bit and see if he comes out of it on his own.” Julia suggested. “That place did quite a number on Jess and me, so I’m not sure I want to know what it did to him.”

“Why would he be any different than you two?” Aiden asked.

I sighed distressedly. “Because…he’s not a Prime.” 

Lukas gave me a baffled look. “What? How could he not be the Prime? What on earth are you talking about?”

“You know how Essa got into his timeline and messed with things?” Julia started. “Well…in manipulating events and making choices for him, we’re pretty sure she may have actually become the Prime of that timeline. According to Jasper, _she_ was the one to actually destroy the Command Block, not him.”

“But…what does that mean?” Jacek inquired, giving her an uncomfortable side-eyed look.

Lukas covered his mouth with one hand, eyes widening as he realized what she was saying. “Oh…oh no. It means Essa is twice as powerful, because she’s the Prime of _two_ timelines instead of one. That must be how she was able to do all that crazy stuff with the In-Between.”

Jacek stood, then reached down to help Julia up. She let out a yell of pain and surprise as she straightened up, doubling over again and clutching her side.

“What? What happened?” I asked.

She gritted her teeth, slowly unbending. “Fucking Essa. When she punched me down, I think she might’ve cracked a rib, or at least bruised one. Holy _shit_ that hurts.”

Aiden checked his inventory. “Crap. I have a potion of regeneration, but not healing.”

“Awesome, hand it over.” Julia demanded, her face pale.

He retrieved the potion, but didn’t give it to her right away. “You sure? It’ll get your health up, but it won’t actually heal anything.”

“I _know_ how regeneration works.” she snapped, then shut her eyes. “Sorry, okay, that was rude. I’m just…still _so_ pissed at Essa right now.”

As Julia swallowed the pink elixir, I looked around again, noting that this part of the In-Between looked much like the rest of it. Just like within the circle of gates, the ground was cracking to pieces, dark nothingness that matched the sky visible inside the deeper fissures.

“How long were we in there?” I asked. A guiltily worried look passed between the other three guys.

“We, uh…don’t actually know.” Jace said.

Aiden made a vague gesture to the sky. “Something happened to Jacek’s timeline, though I don’t know if it was Essa’s doing or just reality being screwy. But the whole place was _frozen_. It was like time had stopped. He was the only person, only _thing_ that wasn’t frozen.”

“You already know we can’t count on time anymore.” Lukas said, then crossed his arms. “I bet you’re glad we decided to come along, hmm?”

I sighed, glancing away from his smug expression. “Yeah, yeah.” I muttered.

“Anyways. It took us awhile to find Jacek and get back here, and almost even longer to figure out how to open that weird void-space.” Aiden continued. “But Jace did the same thing with his sword that Essa did and just kinda…willed it to open, I think? And bam, there you were.”

“How come we’re all the way out here, anyways?” Julia asked, looking around at the bizarre structures.

Jace nodded in acknowledgment. “We didn’t want to risk Essa finding us if she came back. She hasn’t, though, which is…highly suspicious.” 

Jasper suddenly groaned, slowly opening his eyes. “Ow…oh, god, my _head_…what the hell…”

I bent down to help him sit up, ignoring the insistent pain that jolted through me. “Take it slow, you’re alright now.”

He rubbed his forehead, teal eyes unfocused. “W-what _happened?_ Are we…wait, did we escape the void?”

“Close enough. We were rescued.” I explained simply. He blinked, looking up at Aiden and Lukas.

“Wait…so I _wasn’t_ imagining things? You’re-you’re…?”

Aiden kneeled down next to him again, outstretching a hand. “Yeah. Hi. We’re still kinda enemies in your time, aren’t we?”

Jasper accepted the handshake, blushing ever so slightly. “Not, uh…not exactly?”

“From the sound of it, Essa wrecked his timeline pretty thoroughly. It’s not exactly _destroyed,_ but…I don’t know what’s going to happen to him now.” I admitted as Jasper stood. “No one died at the end of the Witherstorm, which made a lot of other things not match up anymore. If he and the Aiden of his timeline are on good terms, then the whole Sky City thing won’t happen…so the rest of the Portal Network nonsense won’t happen, so…it’s all just ruined. Oh god, Jasper, I’m so sorry. I don’t know if we can fix this.” I said, giving him a sympathetic look.

He lowered his head. “Oh. That’s…okay. It was my own fault for trusting Essa.”

“What the- _no_.” Julia said forcefully. “No, it was _not_ your fault! Essa tricked you! You had no way of knowing!” 

Jasper looked miserably over at her, but didn’t say anything. I sighed, trying to find a bright side to this mess.

“Listen. Your timeline, your _life_, is going to be incredibly different from ours. We can’t change that. But maybe there’s a way to still turn it around. What Essa did…she erased your known future, basically. But…right now, I think you have a chance for a brighter future than any of us. I can’t speak for Julia or Jace, but I know that my life slowly got harder and harder after the Witherstorm, because of…events that took place soon after. But I don’t think those can happen to you now, so if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to build a better life than any of ours. It’ll be an uncertain path, but maybe that can work out.”

He gave me a long look, then nodded slowly. “Are you saying…that in this case, Essa actually _helped_ me?”

Lukas snorted. “Well, she certainly didn’t mean to. But sure, I guess so.”

Jasper reached up to rub his eyes. “It’s just…it’s so _hard_ to not think of her as a friend. I thought she was on my side. I thought she was someone I could _trust_.” he muttered. “I don’t know how to deal with this.”

“Try to form deeper bonds with your other friends. Your dependence on her may have impacted some things that happened between you and them, but maybe that’s not completely irreparable.” Julia told him. “But…when you go back to your timeline…there’s something else you’re going to have to do. Something hard.”

Jasper gave her an apprehensive look. “Wh-what?” he asked nervously.

She hesitated for a moment, seeming like she was trying to prepare herself to say the words aloud. I could tell she was regretting deciding to break the news to him. “Essa, she…at the end of the Witherstorm, someone was supposed to die. In her timeline, it was Lukas, but in all of _ours_…it was Reuben. That death…it’s a constant, and an important one.”

His eyes widened. “Oh…is that why she told Axel to keep an eye on him? She _knew_…oh no.”

“Jasper, when things don’t match up between timelines, it throws the universe even more out of balance. I think reality was still mostly normal in your timeline, because Essa was keeping it steady or something, but everywhere else, it’s a _mess_. I’d bet that when you go back to your timeline, it’ll be just as bad as the rest of ours.” Julia said.

I cut in here before she got off-track. “But the point is, even though all our timelines are different, there’s one thing that’s supposed to be constant in all of them, and isn’t.”

“Reuben.” he murmured. “You’re not…you don’t mean…I have to kill him, don’t I?”

I lowered my head somberly. “I’m sorry. We can’t fix the fact that he didn’t die in the Storm, but this variable can’t stand. Trust me, I understand how much he means to you. I…I know what I’m asking, but I wouldn’t ask this if it wasn’t the only way.”

Jasper shut his eyes, dragging in a deep, shuddering breath. His voice was barely a whisper as he said, “Okay. I understand.”

“Are you alright?” Julia asked softly.

He nodded. “Yes. This is Essa’s fault. If...if doing this means she won’t get to hurt anyone else the way she hurt me…I can do it. I _will _do it.”   
Tears sparked in his eyes, though he held firm. I could see how much pain even the idea was causing him, but I also realized how badly he wanted to get back at Essa.

I’d been betrayed before, but never as deeply as she’d done to him. This kind of duplicity was damaging to a person’s very core. Would he ever find peace, with all that had happened?

I believed he could have a chance for things to be better…but there was also a possibility for things to be far, far worse. Now that Essa was gone from his timeline, there was no way reality would still be holding together. What would happen to him if his New Order split up sooner? What if everyone turned on him? What if he ended up on an even darker path than any of us?

I exhaled slowly. No. I couldn’t think about all of that right then. I’d just have to trust that Jasper could turn things around.

I turned back to look at the circle of white gates. “We should go. Jasper should head back to his timeline, and we need to figure out what to do next. We definitely have the element of surprise over Essa this time, but we shouldn’t take any more risks.”

“We gotta figure out how to turn her against Giselle.” Aiden reminded as we started back towards the center of the In-Between. “If we can pit the two of them against each other, it’ll be easier for us to take them both out. Hell, maybe you guys can do some weird fancy Prime stuff and trap _her_ in a creepy void space!”

Lukas shook his head. “Dear, you have a very unsettling mind sometimes.” 

Aiden grinned shamelessly at him, and Jasper’s head snapped up. He glanced between the two of them, surprise and confusion unfurling across his expression as though he’d just now realized they were a couple.

Julia nudged him lightly and murmured, “That’s not a consistent thing. You still have a chance with whichever one you’re thinking of.”

Jasper’s face reddened, but he seemed relieved. “Huh.” 

I glanced cautiously around as we stepped back into the ring of gates. There was no sign of Essa, but Jace was right- that was _supremely_ suspicious. She couldn’t have already done her whole time-turning thing…but where _was _she?

Jasper approached his gate, looking wonderstruck at the flickering images. His fingers tightened into a fist, and he asked, “Do I have to go back now? I can’t stay and help you fight her?”

“It’s better if you don’t.” I told him gently. “She’s hurt you enough already, and your timeline needs you more than I can explain.”

His gaze dropped to the ground. “I just wish I could help you guys somehow. I can’t help feeling like I’m responsible for at least some of this.”

“You can help by not letting Essa get the best of you. She wants you to stay miserable and blame yourself, so _don’t_. At this point, your future is probably better than any of ours. Make it count.” Julia declared staunchly.

Jasper hesitated for a moment, then replied with a smile that was only a little sad. “Okay. I can do that. Thank you.”

“Good luck. And Jasper…I’m sorry this happened to you.” I said. He gave me a long look, then turned back to his gate.

“It’s alright. Nothing that can be done now.” he murmured. I watched as he took a deep breath, then walked across the threshold. The glowing white devoured his small shape, sending him back to the wreckage of his own time.

Meanwhile, the other guys were studying Essa’s gate. Jace had his eyes shut, fingers just barely brushing the white. “She’s definitely there…but I can’t figure out what’s going on. Jo mentioned she could sense what Essa was feeling when she did this, but I’ve got nothing.”

“That’s alright. It’s good enough that we know that she’s _there_, not hiding somewhere waiting to attack again.” Julia said as she and I walked over.

“But what do we do now? We’ve got to stop her, but _how_? She’s so much more powerful than any of us- even Julia and her powers.” Lukas said, stringing a hand through his hair.

Jacek stiffened slightly at the mention of Julia’s powers, but Aiden interrupted. “I’m telling you, the way to do this is to turn her against Giselle.”

“Okay, _how?!”_ Julia snapped. “We know that Giselle is working against her, but we don’t have any proof! Essa won’t believe a thing we say, and Giselle will just lie through her teeth!”

“Don’t ask _me_! Just, I don’t know, do Prime stuff!” Aiden argued. “You guys are more connected to this than any of us. I’m sure you have the capacity to figure _something_ out.”

Julia shot back with something else, but I stopped listening. I gently pushed Jace out of the way and focused on Essa’s timeline. Before, when I’d gone into Jasper’s timeline to talk to her, I’d been able to do…_something_ with the gate that allowed me to see where she was. Maybe there was a way to do that with Giselle.

I cautiously outstretched a hand, letting my fingertips touch the brilliant gate. A jolt of energy flowed through me, as though I’d touched a particularly strong Redstone circuit.

“_Show me Giselle. Give me her past.” _I whispered. “_How has she betrayed Essa?”_

The gate suddenly changed, the blank white giving way to a dim scene.   
I saw Giselle standing in the doorway to a small room lit with Redstone lamps, talking to Olivia. A pale blue bandana was tied over her mouth, like the ones that Essa and her Aiden had been wearing when we first met them.

Olivia’s eyes were red, like she’d been crying. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but judging by Olivia’s posture, she was fairly comfortable around Giselle…but that was about to change.

Giselle suddenly reached into her inventory, and before Olivia could react, threw a Splash Potion of Sleeping on the ground. Olivia’s eyes widened in surprise, then fluttered shut as she slumped to the ground.

That was when things got ugly. Giselle tugged the bandana down once the potion swirls had faded, a triumphant close-lipped smile appearing on her face. She pulled an awful-looking dagger from her inventory, the blade coated in a dark substance that looked horribly like a Potion of Decay. Without hesitating a second, she plunged the dagger expertly into Olivia’s stomach, right where it would kill her the fastest.

I gasped, and took an instinctive step back. With detached calmness, Giselle yanked out the knife and grasped one of Olivia’s wrists. Feeling nauseous, I looked away as she dragged the blade down the other woman’s arm, the brown skin giving way to horrible red blood.

Julia had her hand over her mouth, looking horrified. “But…but I thought Jack said Olivia’s death was a suicide.” she murmured. 

“Giselle faked it. She murdered her and framed it to look like a suicide.” Lukas replied in a low tone, looking equally sickened.

The scene changed to something that seemed a little more recent. This time Giselle was seated at a desk, her legs slung lazily over the side of the chair. Essa’s Aiden was sitting across from her, but he suddenly jumped up, overturning his chair and saying something that I couldn’t hear.

Giselle smiled at him, also speaking inaudibly. Her face was unsettlingly cheery, which contrasted starkly with the complete horror visible in Aiden’s expression. She let out a small laugh, then continued speaking with a slightly more serious expression.

I watched as she stood up and turned away from him, still talking. I desperately wanted to know what she was saying, but in a moment it didn’t matter. She walked over to a gold-clad armour stand in the corner of the room, removing the gold sword from its grasp. For a few panicked heartbeats, I thought I was about to watch another murder, but instead, she lifted the blade and began tracing exit code symbol in the air.

Julia leaned closer, squinting. “Those aren’t the symbols to Essa’s timeline. She’s sending him somewhere else.” she noted.

A downward slash of the sword opened the gate, and Giselle gestured to it dramatically. Aiden hesitated, his eyes betraying a flicker of fear as he asked something. Giselle replied, but he still didn’t move.

“He must’ve found out that she’s a traitor.” Jace guessed. “He somehow discovered her secret, so she decided to get rid of him. Oh, no.”

I nodded absent-mindedly as she tipped the sword closer to him. “I wonder where he is now.” I murmured.

Giselle swung the sword at him, silently yelling something. Aiden dodged and gave her a dirty look, then closed his eyes and strode into the gate with false confidence. His posture was rigid and his face calm, but the shaking of his hands gave away how scared he was.

She lowered the sword as he vanished, and the scene changed. Now I was looking out at a mirror of the In-Between, but as it had been before things started getting bad. The glazed-terracotta of the ground was colourful and unbroken, and the sky was a wash of beautiful almost-evening periwinkles and blues. The only difference was that the gate that led to Jo’s timeline was considerably dimmer than I had ever seen it, and Jasper’s wasn’t there at all.

Giselle stepped out of Essa’s gate, looking calmly around. I barely had a moment to wonder what she was doing before _another_ Giselle appeared, this one emerging from the gate to my timeline. This second Giselle was dressed very differently; a simple black tank top and jeans instead of the elegant blue and purple that Essa’s Giselle wore. Unlike the first one’s dyed auburn, her hair was a shocking magenta, the colour it must’ve been in her Admin form. 

“That’s- that’s the her that we met!” Aiden exclaimed, pointing. “When she came and talked to us while you guys were gone…that’s her. _Jeez_ that’s creepy.”

They…she…exchanged hellos that were soundless to us as a third version of her came out of Julia’s gate. This one looked more like Essa’s, but with shorter hair and an unpleasant scar that stretched along her jaw and down her neck. She didn’t seem to say anything, just nodded in acknowledgment to the other two.

Essa’s Giselle started speaking with many broad gestures and a serious expression. From the look of it, she was the leader of the whole…whatever you wanted to call this.   
It was distinctly uncanny to see her next to the other versions of herself. They all shared the same features, but things didn’t quite match up in their postures and attitudes. 

A fourth her burst suddenly out of the gate to Jacek’s timeline, her expression as she spoke implying that she was apologizing for being late. The fourth version of her looked most like the one from my timeline, but with her long magenta hair pulled back into a braid and a long periwinkle cloak swooping back from her shoulders. 

The four of them settled into a serious, inaudible discussion, with Essa’s version of her still appearing to hold the chair. I let out an amused huff. “Huh. So it was the Giselle of Essa’s timeline who started it all. That’s like…a _double_ betrayal.” I remarked.

“I wonder why none of the others are involved now.” Lukas mused. “And I’m still not totally sure why our version of her decided to rat on the others to us.”

Jace gestured to the her of my timeline. “Look at the way she’s standing- everything about her posture says she doesn’t want to be there. She may have seen you guys as a way out of their crazy plan. That’s what I would’ve done.”

The scene changed again, and started shifting quicker. Giselle faking information in Essa’s research; getting rid of Essa’s other allies, by trickery or force; different versions of her going back and forth between the timelines; carefully plotting an excuse to keep herself out of the whole Admin adventure, and more. Little signs of her betrayal over the years that Essa had never seen.

I slowly stepped away from the gate as it returned to white, still staring blankly at it. Giselle was honestly starting to scare me even more than Essa. She was too smart, too sneaky, and I had no idea what her motive was.

“See? This is _exactly_ what I meant.” Aiden said excitedly. “If we can somehow get Essa to see this, she’ll be vulnerable, and we’ll be able to take her out or at least k-, uh…get rid of the missing constant.”

I nodded. “That just might work. I think we might actually be able to pull this off. But…god, I hate to say it, but I’m on the fence again about actually killing _her_. Essa, I mean.” I said hesitantly.

Julia grumbled. “Suit yourself. I’m more than willing to break a few morality clauses if it means saving reality as we know it.”

“No, wait. We don’t know what will happen to Jasper’s timeline if we kill her. On one hand, since he was _supposed_ to be the Prime, maybe it’ll be fine. But on the other…what if it destroys his whole reality like what happened to Jo?” I objected.

She paused. “Shit, that’s right. I…I don’t know.”

Lukas was shaking his head. “Guys, I _really_ don’t want to say this…but if it comes down to his timeline versus all of ours…we’ve got to do it.” he told us. “I don’t like the idea of that risk, not at all. But we _can’t_ let her gain control of our whole universe. If it comes down to it…this might need to be a sacrifice that has to be made.”

Regret was etched into every bit of his expression as he said this, but I knew he was right. “Yeah.” I whispered. “Yeah, I know.”

I lifted my head, my gaze drifting over to Aiden. “You two don’t need to stick around for this final fight, if you don’t want to. You’ve already seen what Essa can do, and I really don’t want either of you to get hurt any more than you have. If you want to bow out…”

“Jess, how many times to I have to tell you?! _No_. You do _not_ get to push us away.” Lukas said.

Aiden reached forward to gently grab his forearm. “Lukas, I can speak for myself.” he said quietly, then looked at me again. “No, Jess. If you die, then your whole timeline is gone, and it wouldn’t have done us any good to have gone back. We’re in this to the end.”

“But what if it really _is_ the end? Your end?” I asked desperately.

“Then it is.” Lukas told me staunchly. “If Essa kills me, I’ll have died trying to save our reality, and I can handle that. Don’t take this choice away from me. I’ve abandoned you once, Jess, and I won’t do it again. I promise. I’ll only leave if I know _for sure_ that I can’t be of help here.”

I was frozen for several long seconds, before I slowly nodded and let my shoulders slump. “O…okay. Thank you.”

Lukas stepped closer to pull me into a hug. “We’re not about to let you face _two_ of the most dangerous people we’ve ever met on your own.”

“Hey, he’s not on his own! Do we not count anymore?” Julia protested, gesturing between herself and Jace. I laughed, pulling away from the embrace.

“Ahh shut up.” Lukas said, though his voice was empty of malice.

I took a scrutinizing look around at the In-Between, the shattered ground and wretched sky. We still had a chance.   
Essa had pressed our backs against the last wall, but we were still fighting.

_Do your worst, Essa. We’ll be ready for you. _

_You might’ve changed the rules, but we’re not out of the game yet. _


	42. A Posse ad Esse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> from possibility to actuality

She won’t come out of her room.

She’s been locked in there for hours, and won’t respond no matter who comes to the door or what they say.

_(Give me a second. I need to breathe.) _

He’s already been dead for almost a week, but Jessica isn’t over it. She’s not sure she’ll ever be over it. It’s her fault he died, all of it. She shouldn’t have let him go up with her, and should’ve paid better attention when he did. If she hadn’t lost her grip on the sword, he wouldn’t have had to bring it up to her, and he wouldn’t have fallen and died.

It’s all her fault.

None of her friends are blaming her, but she thinks they should be. They’re just avoiding the truth.

She was doing a little bit better for a few days, though now she realizes she may have just been in shock. She’d helped with the beginning of the repairs, the reconstruction of their world. It had distracted her from the horror of what had happened.

_One of your friends is dead, and it’s all your fault. _

But today, she’d finally seen the memorial that his friends had constructed, and she’d broke down. Refusing to let anyone see her fall apart, she shut herself in her room and hasn’t moved in hours.

The tears have been flooding her eyes hard and swift, and at the moment, she’s not sure they’ll ever fade. She’s crying so hard, her breath coming in desperate gasps.

All of them have come looking for her.  
Axel. “Jessica? Jessie, what happened, man?”  
Petra. “Come on, answer the door. I know you can hear me, Jessie. Don’t do this.”   
Olivia. “Jessie, I know it’s hard, but please don’t shut us out. We just want to help. Please. Lukas wouldn’t want this.”

_Lukas. Lukas is dead. It doesn’t matter what he would or wouldn’t want._

They’re not helping. Even Reuben, scratching at the door and making sad little snuffling noises, makes her feel guilty.

She shouldn’t have let him go up. She shouldn’t have let him leave the group. She shouldn’t have let him join the adventure in the first place.

_This is your fault_.

It hurts so bad, a physical pain throbbing in her chest. She and Lukas weren’t close, exactly, but she’d still cared about him enough that she had _not_ wanted to see him die. She’d never wanted to see anyone die, and oh god does it hurt now that she has.

_“You and I, we’ve made a good team so far. I’d even call us friends.”_

_Oh god oh god oh god. Why did this have to happen…? _

She’s never dealt with grief like this before, nothing that compares to this raw unrelenting pain. What would he be doing right now, if he was still alive?  
How might he have reacted, if it was _her_ to fall too soon and him to find their friends gathered around her broken body? Would he be feeling the same way she is right now?

The ideas are painful, but…

_But._

She doesn’t wish it had been her.

Deep down, some part of her is glad. It wasn’t her. She got out alive. She survived to fight another day.

Sure, she’s now carrying around an immeasurable amount of guilt and grief…but she’s still here.

Something in her mind slowly starts to shift, changing her worldview ever so slightly. She sits gradually upright, straightening her back against the wall.

How much truly _is_ it her fault?

He was the one who came along. He was the one who insisted she couldn’t go alone. He was the one who wasn’t careful enough.

_No. No no no. You should’ve been looking out for him. You were the one who was prepared. _

But it had been his choice. She’d warned him that he could get hurt, even die, and he’d still said he wanted to come along.

She pulls in a deep breath, reaching up to absent-mindedly dry her tears. This idea hurts in a very different way from the self-blame, and the nagging voice of her consciousness reminds her that something about this isn’t right. It’s not that the pain is _less_, but it doesn’t feel as much like the pain she’s used to.

What if it wasn’t her fault?

Maybe there was still something she could’ve done to save him, but not if she hadn’t known. He had chosen this. It may have been the wrong decision, but he’d made it nonetheless.

She sits in perfect silence for a long time, moments stretching into minutes. There’s something suddenly different about her thoughts, something darker and yet impossibly freeing.

_Is this right?_

_What is right?_

A knock suddenly sounds against her door, bringing her out of her stupor. She glances up, detachedly unsurprised.

“Jessica? We know you’re in there. Please come out and talk to us…let us know how we can help?” Olivia’s voice sadly calls.

“I don’t think she’s gonna listen.” Axel says gruffly. “She seemed pretty freaked-out earlier. She might not want to talk to us for a while.”

The door swings inward, and there she is, standing tall in her blue and silver armour. Her eyes are dry, her expression immaculately calm.

“Jessie? Are you…are you alright?” Olivia asks worriedly.

“We understand if you need more time, we just want to help.” Petra adds sympathetically. She looks devastated as well, which is understandable considering that Lukas was formerly her closest friend.

She inhales calmly, closing her eyes. “I’m…I’ve been better. But for the moment, I think I’m okay.” she says slowly, cautiously. Reuben snuffles curiously at her feet, and she bends down to scratch his ears.

A look passes between her three friends. This is a very far cry from how she was acting before, and none of them really know how to react to it.

“Also…I have a request.” she continues. She’s right there, but the words sound like they’re coming from far away. “I don’t want to be called Jessica anymore. Or even Jessie. It just…it doesn’t feel like me anymore, after everything that’s happened.”

Olivia blinks in surprise. “Really? What, uh…what _should_ we call you?”

She straightens up, that eerie calmness still present in her eyes like the inverse image of tears. “Essa. From now on, I want to be known as Essa.”

\-----

Aiden won’t look at her as the Sky City guards march him by. He’s so, so angry, and Essa can see why.

“Aiden.” She calls. The guards in front of him pause, forcing him to stop as well. He turns his head deliberately away from her, fury glittering behind his pale eyes. “You didn’t have to do this, you know. We could’ve worked it out.”

“There was nothing to work out.” he replies. His voice is a dull monotone, the words pushed out through gritted teeth. “You killed him, and you don’t even care.”

She clicks her tongue, shaking her head sadly. “Now, that’s not true on _any_ level. Was this really worth it, for your twisted idea of revenge? You’ve cannonballed your own life, and you’ll have nothing to show for it but getting locked in a dim prison.”

“I don’t care.” he says flatly, still looking stubbornly away. “They can do whatever the fuck they want with me. I don’t care anymore.”

Isa walks up just in time to hear this, the Eversource in tow. “Truth be told, I’m not completely sure what we _can_ do with him. I don’t really want to start out our fresh beginning by building a prison to stick someone in indefinitely, but I don’t see another option. He can’t exactly just be allowed to run free.” She says to Essa.

“I didn’t want to hurt you or your people. I just wanted to get back at Jessica, show her that she’s not the bigshot she thinks she is. I never would have come up to that damn place if it wasn’t for her.” he growls.

“Essa.” she corrects primly.

His head finally whips back to shoot her with an impossibly hateful glare. “Oh, _right_. You changed your name after you got Lukas killed. Wanted us all to forget the blood on your hands.”

“I did not get him killed, Aiden.” she says calmly. She knows where his fury is coming from, and she knows how to deal with it. “He made a choice, and I couldn’t stop him. I regret it just as much as you. But yes, I suppose you could say that is partially why I changed my name. I’m not the same girl I was before the Witherstorm.”

He scoffs and looks away from her again, but she’s not done yet.

“And that’s better off for you. Because the girl before the Witherstorm wouldn’t have done _this_: I’ll give you another chance. If you can let go of your anger towards me, I’ll let you come with us.”

From behind her, Petra makes a startled noise, and Ivor asks, “Ah, Essa…what, pray tell, are you doing?”

She ignores them. “I promise, Aiden. If you drop your vendetta against me, we can start over. You can have a new life in Beacontown, and leave all this messiness in the past. That way you’ll be out of these poor peoples’ hair, and you won’t need to have anger as the only thing keeping you alive.”

He gives her another glare, this one packed with all the disgust he can muster. “I’m not just going to _let go _of the fact that you’re alive because Lukas isn’t. You can’t trade all my grief for a flimsy _second chance_.”

“It’s not flimsy.” she says smoothly. “You don’t even have to stay in Beacontown, if you don’t want. Think about it, Aiden. All you have to do is agree to co-exist with me in peace, and you’ll have a literal Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card. I’m not asking you to let go of Lukas. I’m just asking you to direct that angry grief somewhere other than at someone who honest-to-god couldn’t do a thing to save him.”

The sharp glower is gradually giving way to a more thoughtful look. “And how can you guarantee that I won’t just kill you the first chance I get?” he asks, looking rather like he wants to do exactly that.

Essa smiles easily, as though she’d known he was going to say that. “I already beat you once. I’d bet I could do it again.” 

“Essa, are you sure this is fair?” Petra asks cautiously. Essa can tell she doesn’t really like the idea of him coming with them. “Shouldn’t the Sky City people get to decide his fate?”

“This is the best option.” Essa replies steadily, not looking at the taller girl. “They don’t have to deal with him, and he’ll get to start over with a chance at happiness. Trust me. I know this can work.”

“And what about what I want, huh?” Aiden snaps. “I don’t like you, and I don’t trust you. You shouldn’t get a say in what happens to me. What if I’d rather rot in a prison cell than take your shitty deal?”

Isa cuts in here. “What if _I’d_ rather not have to build and guard a prison cell for you to rot in?” she counters. “You gave up your right to a vote when you charged into my city and tried to kill Essa and I.”

“See? There’s not really a choice at all, Aiden.” Essa says pleasantly. It shouldn’t sound like a threat, but it does. 

He stares her down, sharp green eyes boring into too-calm chestnut brown. Her expression doesn’t change, serene and knowing and ever-so-slightly arrogant.

“Come on, Aiden. We both know it’s not me you’re truly mad at. You’re desperate and hurting and you don’t know how to deal with his loss, so you’re taking it out on me. But it doesn’t have to be that way, Aiden. I can help you.” She then lowers her voice, to ask her most deadly question yet: “Do you really think Lukas would want this?”

The crack in his armour suddenly shows. His expression falls into uncertainty, and just like that, he lowers his head. “Fine. Whatever. You win. I’ll go with you.”

Essa is distinctly aware of Ivor and Petra exchanging an uncertain look behind her back, but she ignores them again. “I’m so glad.” she says as the guards surrounding him gradually back off. She’s not afraid of him, especially now that he doesn’t have a weapon. She knew that all his anger was a mask, hiding the face of a grieving and lonely boy, and she feels extraordinarily triumphant that she’s managed to remove the façade.

She looks up at him, the picture of calm forgiveness. “Trust me, Aiden, this is the right move. I promise you won’t regret it.”

\------

She’s never seen anything so incredible.

Giselle comes through the gate behind her, but all Essa can do is stand and stare. The place is peculiar and beautiful, and she’s utterly captivated. The perfect almost-evening colours of the sky, and the brilliantly colourful ground are pretty enough, but she can’t stop staring at the other gates.

There’s only four- the one she just came out of, and the one next to it are by far the brightest, while the other two on either side of them are significantly dimmer and smaller. But they’re mesmerizing, the shimmering pure white, floating elegantly just above the ground. They simply _exude_ power, and she suddenly wants to know everything she can about them.

She looks up to see that there’s _another _layer of gates above her, though unlike the filled-in circle that she’s standing on, these appear to be connected by only a ring of blocks. And although it is high enough up that she can’t be entirely sure of what she’s seeing, she thinks there may be a third layer as well.

A shiver of excitement ripples down her spine. There’s so much _potential_ here, for all sorts of things both great and horrible.

“I told you you’d like it.” Giselle says.

Essa turns to grin over at her. She’s previously been very doubtful of the older woman’s claims, but all her suspicions are gone now. “It’s _incredible_. I can’t believe this is real.”

“Oh, it’s very real. In fact, these timelines you see right now make up our reality as we know it.” Giselle says in a tone of reverence. 

Walking up to the timeline beside hers, the other bright one, she asks, “How is this place even possible? If each of these…what did you call them? Oh right, _gates_. If each of these gates leads to a different reality, how can the In-Between exist? It’s like…a dimension between dimensions.”

Giselle shrugs. “I don’t think it’s actually a dimension of its own. It’s more like…an island in the ocean of space between timelines. I’m not really sure. What I _do_ know is that it’s very fragile. Like I said, if the balance of the timelines was ever disrupted, our whole reality would be overturned. This place in particular would become incredibly unstable.”

“Fragile…but very powerful as well.” Essa muses. There’s something lurking here, a brand-new force that she’s never felt before.

Giselle gives her a sideways smile, a brown curl falling delicately over one eye. “You feel it too?”

She nods, still examining the other gate. “Yeah. There’s something about this place…it’s almost like it’s alive.”

“I knew we were alike in that way. We both have an eye for the _else_, the things that no one else manages to feel or find out. But…I don’t think it’s alive, exactly.” Giselle says thoughtfully. “However, it’s certainly unlike anything you’d find in the Overworld. My guess is that any raw unused power from the timelines somehow ends up _here_, just waiting for someone to use it.” 

_Just waiting for me to use it, _Essa suddenly thinks. This knowledge of the timelines, and the kind of power that exists here…it could be life-changing. It could reshape her entire future.

Or…her entire past.

She doesn’t know where the thought comes from, but goosebumps lift on her arms as she turns the random idea over in her mind.

“Giselle…” Essa starts, glancing over her shoulder, her voice casual and even. “You said that each of these dimensions are their own _time_, right? Can you elaborate on that a little more?”

Giselle strolls over to where the younger girl stands. “Sure. They’re mainly called timelines, though, because they’re not just parallel dimensions, they’re duplicates of the same _time_. Different things may happen in those times, but all of the Primes go through more or less the same events, depending on their actions and choices.”

“So basically, they all have the _potential_ to be the exact same, but it’s because of the Primum Movens that they’re not.” Essa says slowly. “They’re all giant whiteboards, with the Primes writing down and erasing whatever they want.”

A glimmer of mirth sparks in Giselle’s grey eyes. “You could say it like that, I suppose. Though the Primes aren’t exactly aware of what they’re writing, in that analogy.”

“But if someone _was_…who knows what kinds of things they could do.” Essa says thoughtfully.

Something is slowly forming in her mind, taking a gradual and complicated shape. She’s not sure how to identify what she’s thinking, exactly, but it’s something that has the potential to alter every limit she has.

She lifts her head and looks around at the In-Between again as though seeing it with new eyes.

Yes. With this new knowledge…she’s going to change everything.

\-------

Sometimes she feels like she’s drowning.

Words and names and numbers, crashing over her head in a tidal wave of plans. Plans, so many plans.

Studying the timelines has consumed her life. At first, she just wanted to know more. Now, she wants to know everything. Every detail she should’ve changed. Every little place it went wrong. She _needs_ to know. 

It will take her a long, long time before everything is ready. There’s so much to learn and prepare before things can be made right, and it’s almost too intimidating to even fathom.

But she welcomes the challenge. No one ever said changing the world would be easy, and she’s looking to change much more than just the world.

_They deserve to live. I’m going to get them back. I’m going to fix everything. _

The words have been circling her mind more and more these days, a mantra that she won’t let herself forget or ignore. She’s determined to put things right, and has decided she won’t back down for anything.

The door suddenly creaks open, but Essa doesn’t look up. She’s too absorbed in her studies, and isn’t particularly interested anyways.

“Essa? You’re in here already? Or…wait, you didn’t…did you not sleep last night?”

She looks up at Olivia’s worried face, which appears faintly grey in the low lamplight. Truth be told, Essa isn’t sure what time it is, or whether or not she did sleep last night. All she’s thinking of is the timelines, and her gradually forming plan.

“Oh, you _didn’t_. You need to take better care of yourself. Jessica…I’m worried about you. You’re getting so obsessed with the timelines, and this plan you keep talking about. It’s not healthy.” her friend worries.

Essa gently pulls her hand away as Olivia tries to take it. “Don’t call me that.” she mutters.

Olivia gives her a heartbreakingly sad look. “Why _not?_ It’s your name, or it used to be.”

“It’s not anymore. That’s not who I am.” Essa says, shaking her head firmly.

“Then who are you now?” Olivia whispers, almost sounding afraid.

Essa gives her a long look, her expression betraying nothing. Before she can speak- assuming, of course, that she would’ve said anything to that -another person appears in the doorway, peering in as though searching for someone.

“Ah, you _are_ down here.” Ivor says gruffly. “Olivia and I have been looking for you for a while. I thought you were dead in a ravine.”

Glancing down at the scattered papers on the desk, Essa simply says, “I’m much more careful than that. You should’ve known I’d be here; I basically always am.”

A significant look passes between Olivia and Ivor, but she doesn’t notice. “That’s…what we wanted to talk to you about, actually.” Olivia starts hesitantly. “You’ve already put so much time and effort into this, and we understand how important it is. We know what you’re trying to achieve, and we support you. But…this isn’t healthy, or safe.”

Essa looks back up at her for a moment before her eyes drift to Ivor. She straightens up and crosses her arms in disbelief. “Is this an _intervention?”_

“No! Not, uh…not yet.” Olivia says helplessly as Essa’s eyes narrow.

Ivor steps closer to her. “Look, Essa. Your friend is worried about your well-being, but that’s not the only reason I’m here. We’ve learned a _lot_ about our universe, our _reality,_ since we first learned of the timelines, so I know that you know this. I’m inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you forgot, but-”

“What are you talking about, Ivor.” Essa intones flatly. “Get to the point.”

“This plan of yours. Do you know what it will do?” he asks bluntly.

She rolls her eyes. “What kind of question is that? Of course I know what it will do. It will give me full control over my timeline, so I can pick out and change the past events that killed Lukas and Axel, and Magnus too. I can even change smaller things, making it all better piece by piece. It will allow me to create my perfect world.”

_(I just wanted- I had to help them) _

He points a pale finger at her. “Yes. _Your_ perfect world. But are you considering the consequences? What will happen to everyone else when you disrupt the balance of the universe?”

“We wouldn’t say this if we weren’t serious, Essa, I hope you understand.” Olivia says pleadingly. “But we don’t think you understand the magnitude of what you’re doing. In order to gain control of the timelines, you’re going to overthrow reality _everywhere_. Do you know how many people could get hurt because of this? How dreadfully this could end if you fail? We are talking the _fabric of our universe_ here!”

“I’m not going to fail.” Essa counters firmly. Her eyes have narrowed to dark pieces of flint, glinting dangerously in the dim light.

Ivor spreads his arms. “How do you know?! How can you absolutely confirm that you won’t just plunge us into chaos forever? The stakes are too high, Essa! I know you think this is the right way, but it’s just too risky, and too dangerous!”

“We’re not telling you to stop.” Olivia consoles her. “Not in the slightest. But we _are_ asking you to slow down, and see if there’s a better way. There’s just so much that could go wrong, and even more that you _need_ to go wrong in order for this to go right. We’re messing with forces we shouldn’t be, to put it simply.”

“This is our very reality, you know. You’re putting the lives of _three people_ over the wellbeing of everyone else in our known universe. You’re planning to tear apart reality just to fix some mistakes you may not be able to undo. Even if you _do_ somehow succeed, will it really be worth it?” Ivor needles. 

“IT _IS_ WORTH IT!” Essa hollers suddenly, slamming her fist down on the table. Her patience has reached its end. “I have been through enough already without you trying to tell me what is or is not possible! I don’t CARE if there’s another way or not! I _will_ have my happiness, and I don’t care what I have to do to get it!”

She drags in a deep breath while the two of them are standing shocked. “This world hasn’t done a thing for me except put me through pain. I don’t care who I have to shove out of the way to do this. I’m _getting them back_. I’m going to fix _all of this_.” she snaps, gesturing vaguely around her. “All the bad things that have happened in this timeline. They’ll be undone, one way or another. So instead of berating me, maybe you should go back to HELPING me!”

“We _were_ helping you.” Ivor says in a low, angry voice. “We were helping more than anyone else, until we started to realize what you were truly doing. It’s better to leave the past in the past, and accept that you can’t control everything. This is _not_ worth the twisted path to get there, and I’m not helping you down it any further. And if you’re smart, you’ll stay the hell away from it as well.”

Essa gives him a cold glare for several long seconds, her mind full of poisonous words. How dare he stand there, on his ashen throne of self-righteousness, and tell her she’s wrong when _she’s_ the only one working to make things right.

“Fine.” she hisses, quiet as a breath. She strides away, heading out of the dim room. “I don’t care if you help or not. I’m making this right, no matter what I have to do.”

She pauses in the doorway, glowering back at them over her shoulder. “Because when it all comes down to it, Ivor? You can’t do a blasted thing to stop me.”

\---------

Part of her wants to look away from her friend’s broken body on the floor, but she doesn’t quite have the ability to. There’s a deep-rooted horror that’s keeping her immobile, her glassy eyes fixed on the bloody scene in front of her. 

Olivia’s body lies spread on the floor, her arms splayed gently and uncannily. Blood still leaks from both her forearms and the wound in her stomach, staining the cream-coloured carpet on her floor an unreally dark red.

_(I never wanted for this to be my end_

_Far from what was wrong or right)_

Giselle stands up from where she was kneeling beside the body. “It was definitely suicide.” she says in a low voice. She won’t look fully at Essa, but Essa isn’t looking at her anyways, so it doesn’t matter.

“Suicide.” Essa echoes thoughtlessly, her eyes focused on Olivia’s pale face. The other woman’s dark skin is greyish and taut, but her expression is strangely relaxed, like she could pass as just being asleep if not for the horrible pool of blood surrounding her.

An instinctive _‘why would she do this?’_ surfaces in Essa’s mind, but it disappears just as quickly. She knows why Olivia did this. It was because of her.

Well, technically, it was because of both of them. Because neither of them knew when to give up and move on. Because Olivia hadn’t realized when they were impossible, because Essa hadn’t let her.

Essa has never felt worse. Olivia had been one of the last links to her past, the _true_ past, when she was carefree and happy. She hadn’t felt that way in a long, long time, and now, with her oldest friend gone, she suddenly wonders if she’ll ever feel that way again.

_No_. She can’t think like that. She _will_ fix things, set them back to how they should be. What did it matter if there is yet another error she has to put right?

_It matters because you’re down another ally. It matters because you’ve lost yet another of your friends, and you’re no closer to understanding why. _

Essa straightens her shoulders and glances away from Liv’s crumpled body, forcing away the dark thought. It didn’t matter _why_ Olivia has taken her own life, or why the lives of any of Essa’s other friends had been taken. She will get them back, every one.

“Essa? Are you alright?” Giselle asks softly.

Essa shakes her head absent-mindedly, but what she says is, “Yes. It…it doesn’t matter. I can fix this.”

She’s aware of how shaky and thin her voice is, but Giselle doesn’t seem to notice or care. “That’s right, you can. It’ll be okay.”

Tears suddenly spring up in Essa’s eyes, and she hastily mops them away. She stamps down the growing grief, locking up her pain just as she’s always done when a tragedy occurs.

And when she forces back her sadness…the same emotion is always there to take its place.

_Anger_.

Essa opens her eyes and looks down at Olivia’s body again as the flicker of fury deep in her chest begins to flare brighter. How could Olivia do this to her? How could she leave, _knowing_ how close Essa was to success, and how much she needed the support of her last surviving friends?

Had she not trusted Essa anymore? Was she _that _desperate for a way out of the plan? She had been making it work. _They_ had been making it work, together.

And now Essa is left to pick up the pieces on her own.

Well, she _will_ pick them up, and put them back together better than Olivia could’ve ever imagined. Better than _any_ of them ever could. Essa has spent long enough being doubted, and she won’t stand for it anymore.

She’ll be more careful. She _should’ve_ upped her caution when Ivor vanished, but she’d still been too engrossed in her timeline research to do so. But she knows now. She’ll be constantly on her guard, for anyone and anything that may be a threat to her plans or her friends.

_No one will get the better of me again, _she thinks determinedly. 

Giselle gently touches her shoulder. “Essa? Did you hear me?” she asks.

Essa’s head snaps up to look her in the eye, and she guiltily shakes her head. “I didn’t, sorry. Kinda got lost in my own thoughts.”

“Understandable.” Giselle says calmly. “All I said was that you can come back from this. Even if Olivia didn’t have faith in you, I do. I know we can do this.”

The younger woman nods slowly, her gaze drifting again. “Of course I can.” She murmurs. “I’ve come too far, and lost too much to give up now. I _will_ get them back, no matter the cost.”

She doesn’t even hear how low and menacing her voice is, doesn’t realize how strong the darkness creeping through her blood has become. All she can think of is what she’s lost, and what she’s going to do to get it back.

They didn’t mean it. It wasn’t their faults, that they died.

_They deserve to live, and I’m going to make sure they get to. _

_No matter what it takes._

\-----

She storms through the tunnels, unsure of where she’s going. Her thoughts are steeped in darkness and rage, sinking over her in a fog like blinders put alongside her eyes.

She’s _so close_, and yet sometimes she feels as though she’ll never get to where she wants to be.

_(Give me a minute. I thought it was fine.)_

Everyone keeps telling her she’s wrong. First Olivia and Ivor. Then Jack, Stella, and Binta.  
And now Radar.

_Radar_. Of everyone down in these blasted tunnels, she’d thought she could at least count on him!

_(I just wanted to know more. _

_I never wanted to be covered in the dirt.)_

_I never wanted to get this far down, far from any light. _

But you know what? That’s where she is now, and she doesn’t care.

“Essa, wait, please wait!” Radar calls, trying desperately to catch up with her. She doesn’t let him.

_(All the things I fucking studied.)_

_I won’t let it go to waste now. _

“Essa! Come on, please don’t overreact, I just-”

She turns on her heel. “Overreact?!” she bellows. “How am I SUPPOSED to respond?!”

They’re standing in one of the openings where several tunnels connect, and Essa is aware that there’s several other people here, watching them. She doesn’t care. She cares about very few things nowadays, and spectators aren’t one of them.

Radar, on the other hand, looks nervously around. “Look, you know I didn’t mean…”

“Mean what?!” she demands. “Mean that I should give up? Mean that I’m destined to fail? Because that’s what you fucking said!”

_I wanted to help them._

_(You can’t.)_

He shakes his head desperately. “Essa, _please_. Listen to yourself! You’re going _crazy_. You’re so deep down in your schemes that you don’t even know what morality _means_ anymore! What you’re doing…you’re going to unleash pure chaos on the entire universe, and you don’t even care!”

“Why should I care?! The universe hasn’t done shit for me! The only reason I am where I am is because I’ve _fought_ my way through everything that’s been thrown at me. I am _not_ going to give up now, and I’m not going to fail! After everything we’ve been through, I’d think you might have a little more FAITH in me!” Essa snarls. 

Radar takes a small step back, fear evident in his eyes. Essa doesn’t care, hardly even notices, she’s so caught up in her anger. All she’s felt, for years now, is fury and pain. The mix of those two emotions is like a poison, leaching through her body and infecting every inch of her very being.

_I wanted to help them._

_(You can’t, you can’t.)_

“I’ve kicked down every door that’s been slammed in my face, and I’m not about to stop now. I don’t _care_ what I have to do to set things right. I’m going to get my friends back, one way or another.” Essa snaps.

He shakes his head adamantly. “Are you even listening to yourself? They’re _gone_. I know you’re still grieving all of them, especially Petra, and you’re having a tough time coping with everything that’s happened, but this isn’t the way to do it! _You can’t help them now!_ You’ve got to let it go. What if all the plans you’ve made aren’t worth the price you’re paying? With all the lives you stole…I don’t think you’re truly any closer to your goal.”

_I wanted to help them._

_(You can’t, you can’t, you can’t)_

She’s utterly silent, watching him with predatory eyes. He mistakenly takes this as a good sign, stepping closer to her again as he pleads. “Please, Essa. It’s too late for them, but it doesn’t have to be too late for _you_. You can still come back from this, and start over. You can’t change the past- you never could. No one ever could. That’s what makes it _the past_. You’re not the same person you were when I met you, but if you changed once, I know you can change again. You’re just trying to do the right thing, and I understand this, but this isn’t the way to do it. There’s nothing _right_ about this at all.”

Radar reaches over as if to try to take her hand, but she snatches it away. He looks up at her with wide eyes as she leans close to him and hisses, “Get out of my sight, Radar. You don’t know me, and, if you think I used to be different, you never really did. I’ve had this argument thrown at me before, so I’ll tell you the same damn thing I told Olivia and Ivor, Jack, Binta, and Stella: _no_.”

She straightens up, her eyes alight with the rage she’s been carrying around for years. “No. I’m _never_ stopping, not until I get what I want.”

_ (All the things I fucking planned) _

His expression falls into one of dismay, and he desperately reaches towards her again. “Essa, _please_. I’m begging you, just calm down and listen to me…you can’t…this isn’t…”

She turns on her heel, striding down the tunnels again as she coldly repeats, “Get _out_ of my _sight_, Radar. If you’re not going to be on my side, you may as well not be here at all.”

\------

The In-Between is the biggest disaster she’s ever seen, but it’s glorious. This is exactly how it needs to be.

Reality in her timeline is a mess. Reality in _all_ the timelines is a mess.

But it’s a fantastical mess that _she_ created, and she’s content with it. Finally, she’s getting what she wants.

_(I never wanted this to be my beginning. _

_All the things I fucking planned. _

_All the years I played pretend.) _

Reuben snuffles at the ground as she walks towards the center of the circle of gates. The glazed terracotta below their feet is completely shot through with cracks, like it’s prepared to burst apart at any given moment. She knows it won’t, though. Not unless she wants it to.

Giselle comes through the gate behind her, looking thoughtfully around. Essa is hit with a surprisingly strong wave of nostalgia, remembering the very first time they both were here. It’s been so long, with so much happening between then and now.

A small smile flits across Essa’s face without her even thinking about it. The first time she was here, she’d only just gotten the beginning hints of her plan. Now, she’s watching it all finally come to fruition.

“Shall we begin?” Giselle asks, her grey eyes bright with excitement.

Essa pulls her diamond sword from her inventory and swishes it thoughtlessly through the air. “Of course.”

_(I never wanted to be buried in the dirt_

_Far from what was always right) _

A slight pang stabs her heart as she tries to determine the exact center of the circle. It doesn’t feel right that it’s only the two of them- Aiden should be here too. But according to Giselle, he disappeared into thin air just a few days prior, with absolutely no prior warning or clues left behind.

Essa worries that he may have been taken by the rebel group in an attempt to either stop her or get back at her, but some uncomfortable part of her brain can’t help but wonder if he may have left on his own. Jess _had_ been taunting her about a traitor…but that doesn’t have to mean anything.

_He was just trying to rile me up. He doesn’t know shit,_ she tells herself, annoyed that she was letting the other Prime’s words get to her. It doesn’t matter now. She can’t do anything for Aiden at the moment, wherever he is. And whether Jess knew something or not isn’t relevant either, since he and all her other problems are safely locked away until she decides to retrieve them.

Essa closes her eyes, standing with her arms spread wide. She plants her feet on the cracked ground and lets herself _feel_ the In-Between, all the raw power that has yet to be claimed.

Her head tips back, and she feels a strange energy crackling up along her arms.

_Yes. _

_Come to me. You are mine. _

_I am the darkness. I am the vessel. I am the Prime. _

_I am the Prime, and I’m finally claiming the future that should’ve been mine from the start. _

Giselle gasps softly, and Essa opens her eyes. The dark grey sky is shifting, funneling down to the center of the gates. Essa steps back as the placid tornado-like shape touches down, unable to stop the smile that begins to spread across her face.

As soon as the grey tendril brushes the ground, all the remaining gates light up like beacons. Streams of light being pouring from them like liquid, creating five rivers of white that flow into the center. They all meet, creating a perfect circle of brilliant white, the one limb of sky still stretching down in the exact middle.

“Take me back.” she commands in an undertone. “Start it over. All the graves, all the pain and struggle. Give me back my past, so I can reshape my future.”

_(Call my army, start the war.)_

The bright circle ripples and shifts, becoming a million shades at once and bathing her in light. She stretches out the hand that holds the sword, feeling the power thrumming through her very blood as the rewind begins.


	43. Primum Movens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one sucks i'm very sorry

“Hello again, Essa.”

I followed Julia’s example as she strode into the circle of gates, leaving her hiding place behind one of the misshapen dark forms. I gripped the handle of my diamond sword, having retrieved it from where Essa had disarmed me in the earlier fight.

Essa whirled around, the light fading slightly and the funnel of colour from the sky vanishing. Her eyes were wide with shock as she stared between Julia and I, pointing her sword at both of us in turn. “How…how did you…this isn’t possible…”

Giselle drew her weapon as well, watching us with calculating eyes as Reuben hid behind her legs. She didn’t make any other motion, though, apparently realizing that they were outnumbered.

“Surprised to see us?” Julia snarked to a shocked Essa. “Turns out your _interesting_ little void spaces aren’t quite as impenetrable as you think they are.”

Essa still looked like she hadn’t fully processed our presence. “This isn’t real. How did you escape? You couldn’t have gotten out of that without an outside Prime, and I took care of…”

Her gaze suddenly flicked to Lukas, Aiden, and Jacek following behind us, and her eyes narrowed. “You…your timeline…you should be frozen in time.” she said in a low voice.

I nonchalantly swung my sword back and forth, mimicking the flippant attitude she’d worn earlier. “Oh, we all _should be_ something or other.”

She stared me down with unmatchable malice. “So your miserable friends ran to get _him_, and he got you two out. But…who got _him_ out? Why aren’t you frozen?” Essa demanded, glaring at Jacek.

She then glanced questioningly at Giselle, who shrugged. We began to carefully surround the two of them as best we could, avoiding the circle of light in the center. Essa’s confused expression hardened, and her eyes darted around as she assumedly started to form a new plan to get us out of the way.

“You’re not the only Prime who can do tricks anymore.” Julia goaded.

Essa’s swordpoint drifted to her. “Yes, I can see that. I’m so proud.” she snarked. “Where’s the kid? If you two are out, Jasper has to be too.”

“He’s already back in his timeline. Not that you really care.” I said. The tension in the air was almost a tangible thing, becoming thicker with every new word. I was familiar enough with Essa and her strategies to know that she was biding her time, waiting for a good moment to attack.

“Of course I don’t, but I have to make sure you’re not trying to stage an ambush. But what am I thinking? You’re obviously not. You’d rather go right back and attack me straight-on, despite already seeing what I can do.” she scoffed.

Before any of us could respond, her narrowed eyes focused on Jacek again. “Oh, that’s right; you weren’t here last time. So you don’t really know what you’re up against, do you? What a shame.”

“Don’t you _start_.” Julia snarled. She tensed up, looking like she was getting ready to spring at Essa with a second’s notice.

Essa cracked a small, wicked smile, tipping her head towards Julia. She still seemed eerily calm, now that she’d recovered from the shock of seeing us again. What did she have up her sleeve?

Giselle finally spoke, drawing all of our attentions. “Essa, just get rid of them, so we can get down to business. You’re too close to be stopped by the likes of these.”

As Essa raised her sword, presumably to smite us all with all the power the In-Between could muster, I called, “Are you sure you want to listen to her?”

“What?” Essa frowned. I lifted my blade higher, pointing it towards Giselle. 

“I tried to warn you back in the End. You’ve been careless with your secrets.” I announced. “For someone who’s so smart and so unwilling to trust, you’ve made a _big_ mistake.”

Essa turned her head very slowly to look at Giselle. “What…is he…talking about?”

“He’s talking about your _wonderful_ little double-crossing friend there.” Aiden said haughtily. Essa pivoted to look at him.

“What on earth are you implying?” Giselle asked, sounding a perfect mix of confused and affronted. “Essa, don’t listen to this. They’re just trying to mess with your head.”

Julia stepped slightly closer to Essa. “Are we, though? What if we really _do_ know something?” she asked in a teasing tone. She widened her eyes dramatically, voice dropping to a whisper. “What if we know _everything?”_

“Everything about what?” Essa demanded. Her calm demeanor was beginning to fade, replaced by the paranoia I’d seen back in the End. Even with all her power and confidence, there was still a part of her that was afraid.   
I stepped back, moving towards the gate to Essa’s timeline with my eyes still on the other Prime. Essa was watching me closely, distrust and wariness evident in her expression as she hesitantly put away her sword.

I repeated the motion I had before, letting my fingers just barely touch the brightness of the gate. Strangely enough, the light now seemed to be pulsing like a heartbeat, but the slight jolt of energy I received was familiar.

“See for yourself.” I announced, then lowered my voice, focusing on the energy of the In-Between. “_Show her._”

A tendril of white light emerged from the gate, swooping towards Essa. She cried out in surprise and dodged, but it wasn’t trying to grab her.

It tore apart, shattering like a mirror, and the individual pieces created three separate white smears in the air like blank canvases. Essa stared, her eyes growing wide as they began to play out the same scenes we’d seen in her gate.

She flinched and looked away from Giselle’s murder of Olivia, only to see her conspiring with the other versions of herself in the In-Between. Her expression was frozen somewhere between horror and resentment, a mix that could only mean good things.

Essa visibly forced herself to watch the betrayal unfold, scene by terrible scene. I could see the emotions flickering across her face, slowly, gradually, hardening into one.

_Anger_.

How many times had she shut out her sadness and grief, turning instead to fury? How many times had she barreled on in rage instead of looking back at where it had gotten her? How long has she been going on with only anger to push her forward, and what will happen when it finally fades? _Will_ it ever fade?

It certainly didn’t look like it right then.

She slowly turned, levelling a murderous look at Giselle. The former Admin was standing frozen, looking horror-struck at the revelation of her lies. Reuben, who had been taking shelter behind her, suddenly edged away as though he could sense there was something off.   
“Essa, this isn’t…you can’t possibly…you know this isn’t real, right?” she tried. Her tone sounded genuine, but Essa didn’t appear to be swayed.

She pointed a finger at the middle scene, which showed Giselle forcing the Aiden of her timeline through the unknown gate. “Is this true?” she asked in a murmur. “You have one chance to be honest. _Is this true?”_

“Of course not!” Giselle exclaimed. “You really think I would do this to you? What would I possibly gain from betraying you like this?”

Essa stared her down for several long moments. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, though her expression grew more and more enraged. “Liar.” she whispered. 

Giselle took a small step back. “What?” she inquired.

“_LIAR_!” Essa screamed. “I know the In-Between! I know what you can and cannot do with a gate, and _faking memories_ is _not_ within that range of powers! TELL ME THE TRUTH!”

Essa gestured to one of the scenes, right as the colour faded and it returned to being a blank smear. “You told me she _killed herself_. You told me he _disappeared. _All those suspicious deaths…all the times you disappeared under flimsy explanations and I didn’t bother to doubt you…you were working against me the _whole time_.” she hissed.

Giselle’s grey eyes darted around as though she was searching for a saving lie. Then she let out a deep breath, tilting her head towards Essa. “Well, I don’t know about that. I wasn’t truly working _against_ you, since I _did_ need your plans to succeed in order for mine to. But yes, I had my own plans. Happy now?” 

Essa took a small step back, and I held my breath as I waited to see what she would do.

But it wasn’t her that struck first. Giselle pulled her diamond sword from her inventory again, pointing it at Essa. “So the ocelot’s out of the bag. Makes no difference to me. And it shouldn’t make any difference to you, either. All the things I did, I was just trying to keep you focused on your plan. Don’t you get it? I _want_ you to succeed.” She wheedled, desperately trying to get back into Essa’s good graces.

“Only because you want to use the timelines for your own gain!” Lukas shouted affrontedly. Neither Giselle nor Essa looked at him.

Essa suddenly smiled. “Ah, what the hell. I suppose with Aiden stuck in the control timeline, you’re the best I’ve got.” she said in a sweet voice that made my hair stand on end. “Even if you are a bit manipulative, I suppose _I _am too. You’re just after the same thing I am, so why let this tear our friendship apart?” 

Giselle lowered the sword slightly, giving the younger woman a skeptical look. “Really…?” she asked doubtfully.

_“No.” _

The smile dropped. Essa suddenly lunged, and wrapped her fingers around Giselle’s throat before the weapon could be raised again. “You have _no idea_ how much you’ve taken from me. All this time, you’ve been undermining me, and you _really_ think I’m going to let that slide? You’re a grade-A fool, Giselle.” she spat. “You think you’re so smart, but if you had even _half_ a brain, you wouldn’t have spent all these years trying to double-cross the person who lives for nothing but revenge. I’m going to drop you in the void piece by traitorous, bloody piece, and then I’m going to erase your name from _every_ timeline. You just wait.”

I stood frozen, not sure what to do. Essa was about to kill Giselle, but should we stop her? Rage was practically radiating off the other Prime, and I didn’t want to know what she might do to anyone who got between her and her revenge now.

Essa’s grip tightened, and she lifted Giselle off the ground. I watched in shock as her own feet left the ground as well, her long hair floating up as though she was underwater.

“What’s she doing? How is she doing that?” Jacek muttered, sounding slightly panicked. I just shook my head, not having anything close to an answer. In the previous fight, she’d summoned those dark tendrils from the ground to deal with her adversaries, but there was nothing like that in sight now.

Giselle struggled against her grip, but she wasn’t a match for Essa’s wrath. “You are going to _pay_ for what you’ve done. You thought you could light me on fire and walk away, but you’ve underestimated how furious I can burn.” 

Giselle was suddenly thrown back, out of Essa’s grip, and went crashing to the ground in a heap on the other side of the circle of gates. I glanced madly around, wondering what could’ve done that. Julia had said she couldn’t access her Admin powers, and her wide brown eyes backed that up. But if it wasn’t her…

Essa watched Giselle struggle to get to her feet, still hovering a few inches off the ground. A small, malevolent smile was starting to spread across her face as she looked down at us.

“Still think you can stop me?”

Little flecks of pure darkness began rising up from the cracks in the ground, swirling around Essa and disappearing as they touched her. It took me a moment to understand, but it clicked when she dropped back to the ground. She was _absorbing the power of the In-Between_. Rather than just using it to contain or attack us, she was channeling it into her own physical strength.

“What should we do?” Lukas murmured calmly.

I gestured to him and Aiden. “You two keep Giselle contained. We’ll deal with Essa.” I commanded.

Julia and Jacek stepped up to right beside me, holding their swords at the ready. As Essa advanced, I adjusted my grip on my own weapon, mentally and physically preparing myself for the fight of my life.


	44. Zenith

Essa’s diamond sword crashed against mine, sending me tripping back as she turned to strike at Julia. She was still hovering slightly above the shattered ground, and moving faster than I’d ever seen. In normal circumstances, we would’ve had the upper hand, but trying to fight her with the new addition of the strength of the In-Between was like trying to battle a tornado. 

Jacek leaped up, swinging his sword in an arc. Essa whirled around to meet him, dodging his blade and landing a swift kick to his side that sent him crashing back to the ground. He was back up on his feet in seconds, wincing and clutching at his side. 

I didn’t know what was going on with Aiden and Lukas versus Giselle, and I wasn’t willing to risk looking. She was outnumbered, and assumedly injured after Essa had tossed her, but that wasn’t enough to count on.

The fight had already been going on a few minutes, and I didn’t know how it would end. We needed an advantage over Essa, but there wasn’t one anywhere in sight. Without Julia’s Admin powers, and with the addition of Essa’s new In-Between-granted abilities, we were stuck.

Essa lunged for me again, and I barely parried her blow in time. Julia darted over to attack from the side, but Essa managed to block her. She only had one sword, but the In-Between was lending her more strength and speed than the rest of us combined. Our blades crashed over and over, the score staying even.

Sweeping one leg low, Essa tried to knock Julia’s feet out from under her, but Julia dodged neatly and rammed the hilt of her sword into Essa’s side. The taller woman yelped, though more in surprise than pain.

I tried to strike her again, but Essa’s guard was far from down. She suddenly leaped upwards, pushing herself higher into the air. “You can’t get me that easily. We’re just getting started here.”

Whatever she’d planned to do was stopped before it even began, by a massive wave of energy that swept across the In-Between, shaking the ground. I gasped, and Essa dropped suddenly to the ground, looking around wildly. Her eyes focused intently on the gate to Jasper’s timeline, and she let out a low hiss of anger. “No! What- how did…?”

Julia inhaled a deep breath, and I suddenly realized that the In-Between had changed. The sky had lightened significantly, and the cracks in the ground had shrunk.

“Wh-what just happened?” Jacek called.

“Jasper! He must’ve killed the Reuben of his timeline!” Julia exclaimed. She adjusted her grip on her sword, looking suddenly energized.

There was a crack like a thunderclap, and a flash of light lit up the whole place. I reached up to shield my eyes, but it was already fading. With the going of the sudden brightness, two people had suddenly appeared; one standing stiffly and looking anxiously around, and the other crumpled worryingly on the ground. 

I bit back a scream and bolted towards the second figure. “RADAR! Radar can you hear me?!”

He was still unconscious, but he wasn’t dead. Horrible burn-like bruises encircled his throat from the black tendrils Essa had attacked him with, and he didn’t respond as I gently shook his shoulder and lifted his head.

Lukas kneeled beside me. “What should we do?! We need to get him out of here, but we can’t just leave!”

I didn’t answer, distracted by the other new arrival. It was none other than the Aiden of Essa’s timeline, looking no worse for wear than he’d been the last time I’d seen him. I didn’t know where Giselle had sent him, but it apparently hadn’t caused him much damage.

“Essa…? ESSA! Giselle, she’s-” he exclaimed, but she interrupted.

“I already know it all. She’s done even worse than you know.”

Aiden focused on her again. “What is going on? What happened? How long was I gone?”

“Not important, and there’s no time to explain. This ends now.” She told him staunchly.

A shout across the circle of gates drew my attention back to the Aiden of my timeline. Giselle had evidently broken away from him and regained her sword, and was running at Essa again.

The other Prime nearly laughed, throwing out a hand. Shadow tendrils burst out of the ground in force, twining rapidly up Giselle’s body and lifting her up just like they had to Radar before. She clutched at her neck, still obstinately brandishing her sword at Essa.

“I really thought you were smarter than this, Selle. And you know how much I hate being wrong.” Essa announced. “I was going to wait until this is all over and kill you slowly, but this is good enough. You’re _done_ meddling in my life.”

Essa closed her eyes, levitating above the ground again. Her outstretched hand shook, and her hair began floating up again as though she were underwater. A million scrambled thoughts rushed through my brain as I tried to figure out how to stop her, but there wasn’t enough time.

The In-Between began to split apart.

It was a gradual division, the ground quaking madly as it slowly started to break to pieces. The sound was unbearable, an impossibly loud grating, rumbling noise, thrumming through my very bones as the flat ground of the impossible dimension became a scattered mess of dozens of uneven islands. They floated disjointedly; some close together, some widely spread, all at different heights.

Most were at least several paces across, but not all. The space between was nothing but void, a definite cascade into pure nothingness should you happen to lose your footing and fall. I instinctively scooted back from the edge, clutching Radar’s unconscious body close.

Each of the gates was on its own jagged island, including the ones that had previously been on the higher levels. They were dropping lower, adding to the fragmented chaos that the In-Between had become.

I stared blearily around, feeling like I was in a strange, surreal dream. The removal of Jasper’s missing constant may have repaired some aspects of the timelines, but Essa had clearly undone that.

“E-Essa…don’t…” Giselle coughed, still lifted up by the dark tendrils.

Essa didn’t bother to say anything in parting. Her brows were drawn low in a dark glare as she made a tense flicking motion with her hand, and the shadows holding Giselle imitated the movement, throwing mercilessly her into the emptiness below.

The former Admin screamed shrilly as she fell, though from fear or rage I couldn’t tell. Her voice faded off to nothingness within only a few seconds, falling frictionless through the void.

I glanced over at Lukas, who was staring white-faced at where Giselle had fallen. I could already tell what he was thinking- if we weren’t careful, that could be us very soon. 

“Keep Radar safe.” I ordered, standing up again and snatching my sword. Essa, her Aiden, and Reuben were all on the same fragment of land- if the rest of us Primes could get over there, maybe we still had a shot at fixing this.

Julia had ended up on one of the farther islands, and I watched as she leaped to a closer one. The jump seemed too wide to be plausible, but she landed easily, and I noticed that her eyes were the bright Admin red and gold again. Maybe the destruction of the In-Between had somehow allowed her to use her powers again. 

Essa said something inaudible to her Aiden, and he turned away and jumped to a nearby island, Reuben following behind. The other Prime was still hovering, her hair still drifting unnaturally.

With an uncomfortable jolt, the separate fragments of land suddenly began to move, pushed and pulled by an intangible force. The one I was one drifted insistently backwards, away from Essa, and I quickly mustered my courage and leaped to the nearest one. It wobbled slightly as I landed, but not enough to deter me.

I jumped again, scrambling for even footing. The wreckage of the In-Between was no longer perfectly flat as it had been before- the ground was now rough and irregular, making it even more difficult to stand straight. Essa certainly wasn’t interested in making this easy for us. 

I glanced warily around, trying to see if there was some pattern in the movement of the fragments. It appeared to be completely random, the islands drifting, turning, and spinning without any sort of cognitive thought. On one hand, that would make it harder to efficiently navigate; but on the other, it probably meant Essa wasn’t directly controlling them.

She was still floating above the jagged ground, sword in hand as she watched the three of us draw nearer. Even from a distance, I could see she didn’t have the same poised calm as before- she looked _angry_.

This was truly the final stand, and we all knew it.

Another strong leap took me onto another island, this time one with a gate on it. I peered into the white, wondering what timeline it led to. A brief image flashed in the blankness, of a young woman treading slowly through snow. I did a double take as I realized she wasn’t just anyone- she looked like a more feminine version of _me_.

The scene changed, and this time I was looking at Lukas also standing deep in snow, tears on his face as he shouted something inaudible to someone I couldn’t see. The whole gate gave off a very grim, dark feel, and I turned away. Whatever twisted story had gone on in that dimension, I was glad I wasn’t a part of it.

Not that _this_ twisted story was much of an improvement.

I took another leap, having the luck to land on a lower island that was moving closer to where Essa was. I was knocked suddenly off balance when my fragment crashed into another one, forcing me to drop to the ground and hang on as best I could. The one I collided with was another with a gate, and I saw a brief glimpse of a Prime that looked like myself hugging an absolutely massive multicoloured dog. It seemed like a happier timeline for that Prime…but there was still something off, something _darker _about it. 

I made a mental note to be careful around the islands with gates- one wrong move and I could end up in a completely unknown dimension.

I heard a sudden panicked shout, and looked over just in time to see Jacek slip, clinging desperately onto the side of the island he’d tried to jump to. He tried to pull himself up, but the movement of the fragment of ground made it impossible.

“Hang on, Jace! I’ll be right there!” I switched directions, heading towards him. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Julia still making a beeline for Essa, and I hoped she’d be able to keep her busy long enough for me to rescue Jacek.

The island shook again as I landed, and it took a moment for me to stabilize myself. If I slipped up, this could be the end of both Jace _and _I. Quickly grabbing ahold of his wrists, I did my best to try to haul him up. “Come on, you can do it. We don’t have long!” I called.

He practically growled, feet scrabbling fruitlessly against the crumbling dirt side. “I can’t…get…enough…traction!” He snapped, voice panicked.

The fragment shook again, and suddenly Aiden appeared beside me. “Don’t worry, we got you.” he said to Jacek, remarkably calm. With his help, Jace was back on solid ground in moments, glaring around at the scattered mess of floating islands.

“This is crazy! How are we supposed to do _anything_ with the In-Between like this?!” he exclaimed, reaching up to push a lock of dark hair out of his face. “Essa’s too powerful. This doesn’t seem _real_.”

“Well, we’ve got to try.” I said staunchly. I didn’t care how insane this whole thing had gotten- I wasn’t ready to give up, and knowing that Jasper had done his part had given me a strange burst of confidence. “Aiden, you go after the, uh…Aiden of Essa’s timeline. Disarm him any way you can- throw him through a gate or into the goddamn void if you have to. Jace, you and I need to back up Julia. Essa hasn’t moved from where she is, so I’m getting the feeling the broken ground doesn’t give her any more of a leg up. If we can do _something_ to give us an advantage, one of us can edge out and kill Reuben. That’s all we have to do to fix things.”

Aiden pulled his sword from his inventory. “Great. I have a stab wound to pay him back for. Good luck, you two.” 

Jace got a running start, jumping without hesitation onto the closest island and then the next. I followed, looking up to see Julia locked in combat with Essa. My friend was clearly outmatched, even with her Admin abilities.

The fragmented, moving ground made consistent movement nearly impossible. It was difficult to gauge the distance between the islands, what with them moving and all, and there were several times I almost launched myself into the void because of a mistimed jump. Jace was having similar problems, scrambling nervously away from the edges every time he landed.

We finally made it to the island that Essa and Julia were on. This one was larger than most, but wasn’t any more stable. Both the other Primes were floating above the ground with their respective powers, but Jace and I didn’t have that opportunity.

I drew my sword and joined the fight easily. Essa seemed almost surprised when I moved in to attack from the side, but deflected my strike anyways. “Just give up, you idiot. You can’t win this.” She growled. There was suddenly something different about her voice, a hint of desperation that hadn’t been there before. She wasn’t as confident in her victory as she wanted to seem.

Jacek swung his blade towards her, and this time, Essa didn’t fully dodge in time. She threw her left arm up to shield her face, earning a long but shallow cut along her forearm. She hissed in pain, then jumped towards Jace at lightning speed.

He blocked the blow, but she stamped down hard on the ground, channeling her power to magically break off the part of the island he was standing on. He shrieked in surprise and horror, but didn’t fall. The piece of land rose and was pushed back, sending him away from the fight. 

I lunged for Essa again, right as she turned. She parried my strike effortlessly, then delivered a solid kick to my abdomen that sent me to the ground, wheezing for breath.

“Jess?!” Julia cried worriedly.

“I’m…alright.” I coughed, still trying to breathe normally. I’d somehow forgotten how unnaturally strong Essa was now that she’d harnessed the power of the In-Between.

Essa and Julia’s blades rang against each other again as I shakily stood, adjusting my grip on my own sword. As I was running towards them to rejoin the fight, Julia suddenly rocketed upwards to avoid a slash from Essa.

But again, the other Prime was too quick. Essa drove the point of her sword into the back of Julia’s leg, leaving a deep cut down her calf. Julia screamed and collapsed on the ground, her eyes reverting back to brown.

I dropped to my knees beside her. Julia was laying on her side, her voice a high, keening wail as she desperately grabbed at her leg as though she could stop the blood flow with only her hands. “Aah-aaah! It _hurts!_” she cried, eyes shut tight.

A flash of motion out of the corner of my eye gave me the warning I needed to duck out of the way. Essa’s sword slammed against the ground where I’d just been sitting, and I rocketed to my feet yet again. I swung my sword in an arc, and she blocked me once more.

She pressed in on me, our diamond blades colliding. “What do you think you’re going to do? I’m stronger than you. I’m stronger than _all of you_.” she taunted. “You’ve already failed against me so many times- how could this possibly be any different? I have the whole might of the In-Between behind me, and you have…what? Tenacity?”

Essa backed up, lifting her sword high and bringing it down hard. “Hate to break it to you, but that’s not going to cut it anymore!”

I avoided the blow, then attempted to strike her again. It was no use- she was just too damn fast. Our weapons clanged against each other again, and she leaned in close to continue threatening me. “Look at where you _are_. Your allies are injured or gone. Your reality is crumbling under you. You’ve _never_ had the upper hand in this fight, not from the moment you first stepped foot in the In-Between. You think you’re so noble, trying to _save the universe_, but it doesn’t matter how _good_ or _honorable_ you are- you’ve never been enough.” she spat.

I sidestepped away, and we went into another flurry of feints, slashes, and parries. I was on full defensive but I gritted my teeth, refusing to let her see me falter. “What am I supposed to do, then?” I snapped.

A sudden miniscule smile darted across her face. She lunged forward again, but when I moved to block her, she rotated her swordarm, twisting the handle in my grip at an unnatural angle. I gasped, and reached for the sword with my other hand, but it was too late.

The weapon flew out of my hand, knocked away by Essa’s blade. Her hand snapped out, fingers closing around my neck.

She leaned in close, so we were nearly nose to nose. “You’re not _supposed_ to do anything now.” she murmured, answering the query I’d forgotten I’d asked. “It’s time to die, Jess.”


	45. the Drawbacks of Holding On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright hi lemme just  
*clears throat*  
the chapter last week was an April Fool's prank it was fake it didn't happen i am not sorry here's the real chapter uwu  
i repeat, it was NOT REAL. i am a bad person.

“It’s time to die, Jess.”

Essa backed away from me and made an upward flicking motion with her free hand, prompting more of those black tendrils to shoot out of the ground. They started wrapping quickly around me, spiraling up my body and reaching gradually towards my neck. I knew- just _knew_ -that I was about to go the same way as Giselle, dropped into the void without a second thought.

I will never be more glad that I had allies.

Jacek landed silently, jumping back onto the main island after he’d been knocked away. Essa started to turn, but I reached forward and grabbed ahold of the front of her shirt. The black shadow tendrils restricted my movement somewhat, but I jerked my head upwards, slamming the top of my head into her face.

She screeched in pain, stumbling backwards and clutching at her nose. Her hand came away bloody, and she gave me a truly murderous look.

But Jace attacked before she had a chance to do anything. He moved almost as fast as Essa had earlier, lunging forward to drive his sword into her side.

She heard him at the last second, and dodged with an exclamation of shock. But his attack made her lose focus for a crucial moment, and the shadowy tendrils surrounding me disintegrated.

I didn’t waste a second, darting away and reclaiming my sword from where it had fallen. Essa whirled away from Jace, clearly aiming to go after me again, but she suddenly froze. Her whole body went still, except her darting eyes. “Wh-what-”

I glanced back to see Julia’s Admin eyes lit up again, still on the ground as she reached a shaking hand towards Essa. Her face was tense with pain, but she seemed determined not to let go. “Jess, _go_! K-kill Reuben; we’ll hold h-her off!” she panted, clearly focusing all her energy on containing Essa.

I hesitated for a moment too long, and Julia screamed “GO!” at me. Jacek stepped forward, between me and Essa. “This is our last chance. Make it count!”

This time, I didn’t waste a second. I leaped onto the closest island, setting my sights on the fragment where Reuben was. I was beyond relieved to see the Aiden of my timeline had won the fight, and didn’t look any worse for wear after disarming the other version of him. Essa’s Aiden was sitting on the unstable ground, clutching at his knee as though he’d been hurt.

_Well, serves him right_, I thought briefly, jumping to the next fragment. This was another with an unfamiliar gate, though I only caught a faint glimpse before moving on. The Prime there was a pale, black-haired woman who looked alarmingly like Essa, curled on the ground as she tried to stem the blood flowing from a wound in her side. I felt a pang of aching sympathy, wishing briefly that I could go through and help her. But there was too much to be dealt with here, first.

I heard Essa scream shrilly from behind me, but didn’t look back, leaping frantically from island to island. Hopefully Jace and Julia could deal with her for just a moment longer.

_Almost there, almost there…_

One more jump. Another. A running start. Another leap, every one a risk.

The fragment they were on was another large one, but it shook mightily when I landed. “Careful!” my Aiden warned in a panicked shout. “It’s not stable!”

Too late. A crack ripped through the island, separating it into two smaller pieces. Both versions of Aiden moved to avoid it, mine jumping quickly to a different fragment, and Essa’s rolling out of the way. By some utter miracle, another island came close enough for me to fall onto as the first one split, as though the In-Between itself wasn’t ready to let me die.

That island also housed a gate, and a flash of colour through the white drew my attention. I turned, and found myself looking at an elegant dark-skinned person who looked a little like Jo and a little like Jacek and a little like neither at all. They were wearing strange red armour, and had a hauntingly empty look in their eyes. They looked nearly dead, as though something else had pushed them out and taken control of their body.

“This whole…goddamn place…is beyond hope.” the Aiden of my timeline snapped. I wrenched my eyes away from the strange image in the gate to see him crouched on a smaller island, glancing nervously around.

I cast my gaze around, finding Lukas still huddled with Radar on yet another island with a gate, across the scattered puzzle of fragments. “You and Lukas need to _get out of here_. Take Radar, and go back to our timeline. If this gets any worse, you three might not survive. I am putting my fucking foot down this time- _go._”

He hesitated. “Are…you sure?”

“Yes! Look at it this way- if Essa wins, she’s just going to kill you. If we win, you won’t need to do anything anyways. I don’t know what else might happen to the In-Between, and I _don’t_ want any of you guys getting hurt! You’ve done enough. Save Radar and yourselves- there’s nothing else you can possibly do here.” I ordered.

Apparently deciding that I had a point, he turned away. “I…good luck.” he said in a low voice.

He headed off in the opposite direction as me, while I jumped back to the island that Reuben and Essa’s Aiden still stood on. I cut the taller man a suspicious glare and brandished my sword- he was unarmed now, but I didn’t trust him.

Essa’s Aiden watched me silently, his pale green eyes calculating and cautious above the red bandana that hid his mouth. Without turning, he slowly stepped away from me, going towards the edge of the fragment.

Neither of us broke eye contact until he was standing at the brink. He was giving me a clear path to Reuben, but I didn’t quite understand what his motive was. Was he afraid, because he didn’t have a weapon? Or…was he ready for this to end as well?

It was a bit of an unsettling realization. I didn’t truly know much about this version of him, what his motive really was. He seemed very close to Essa…but maybe he wasn’t any happier than the rest of us about where this path had led him.

I didn’t manage to settle on a conclusion before he jumped, landing solidly on another island. He made his way quickly towards one with an exceptionally bright gate, examined it for a moment, then jumped through.

“No! NO! DON’T YOU DARE!” I heard Essa yelling, though I’m not sure if it was directed at me or him. This snapped me back into focus, and I turned my attention to the task at hand.

Reuben stood in front of me. He wasn’t a piglet anymore- he was a full-grown animal, who deserved so much better than to be nothing more than a pawn in this twisted timeline disaster. He watched me with discomforting brown eyes, and I got the distinct feeling he was scared.

My heart felt like it was mimicking the In-Between, shattering into smaller and smaller pieces. Ever since I’d first figured out he was the missing constant, I’d wanted nothing more than to deny it. But right then, standing there, I knew I couldn’t anymore.

_I can do this_, I thought. Then: _And even if I can’t, I have to_.

Reuben backed away from me, huffing softly. I adjusted my grip on the sword, moving in to corner him.

There was another enraged screech, and I glanced back just in time to see Essa break free of Julia’s hold and launch herself into the air, flying directly over Jace as she set her sights on me.

“JESS!” Julia bellowed. “DO IT! _NOW!!”_

I didn’t even think, just brought the sword around in a perfect arc, slicing Reuben’s neck. He didn’t even have time for a squeal of pain before the blood was spurting out in fatal amounts, draining his life on the ground.

I choked back a sob, unable to believe I’d honestly just done that. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I breathed.

The small body collapsed, already dead.

Everything screeched to a halt. For one second, everything was dead silent- I wasn’t even aware of my own pounding heartbeat in my ears. It was like the whole In-Between had been abruptly put on pause, the chaos of the place dying away for one impossible second.

The missing constant was gone. The whole quest, everything we’d been trying to do this entire long time…it was over.

_It was over._

It started with a small gasp, that elevated into a choking sob and then a desperate cry. I turned, my hands shaking so hard that I nearly dropped the sword. Essa was still hovering above the shattered ground, but she wasn’t the confident and powerful figure she’d been before. Her expression was one of pure shock, and her long dark hair slowly stopped floating, dropping in her face one strand at a time. She lifted a hand up to her throat, her tone raw and pained.

All of a sudden, her body went stiff, rising upwards against her will. Essa’s voice rose into a wordless, deafening shriek as a shadowy substance curled up from her body, right above her heart. A dark figure began to coalesce above her, forming of the shadows pouring out of her chest.

She scrabbled desperately at both the shadowy form and her own body, as though trying to pull the power back into her. “No! NO! IT CAN’T-NO!!”

I watched in shock as the dark figure contorted, twisting into a humanoid shape floating directly above her. It didn’t make a noise at first, just reached out and grasped her pale neck with a clawed hand.

An ominous hiss that sounded horribly like Essa’s own voice proclaimed _“You…failed…”._   
In a sudden spur of movement, the shadow figure shoved her away, and her body fell unceremoniously, landing with a faint _thud_ on one of the islands.

At that very moment, every single gate lit up, sparking and glowing with an impossible light. A shock wave rippled suddenly through the In-Between, and I instinctively dropped to the ground to retain my balance as the island I was on began to move.

But I didn’t need to worry. The scattered islands started snapping back together, gradually re-creating the perfectly smooth, solid ground it had been before. Little by little, the void gap closed as I stood again and watched in dumbfounded silence.

The sky had brightened again as well, becoming the beautiful mix of blues and lavenders it had been before. Of all things, that was what made the reality of it suddenly click for me.

It was over.

Essa was folded on the ground, letting out a high-pitched keening wail that would’ve twisted my heart if it had been anyone else. In a different kind of situation, it might be gratifying to see her like this, fallen so far from the glory she’d been so desperately clinging to, but I was entirely numb. Too relieved to feel smug, and too angry with her to feel sympathy.

I looked down at the blood spatters on the sword in my hands. All the insanity of the past few weeks, the worrying and panic over the slow collapse of reality…all repaired by the death of one little animal.

Julia still looked injured, halfway leaning on Jacek. Blood trickled down from the slash in her leg, but she was smiling in dazed wonder as she looked around at the newly reformed dimension. I slipped my sword into my inventory, running on shaky legs over to the two of them. 

She pushed away from Jace, meeting me partway. “Jess…Jess, it’s fixed, I can’t believe…is this real?”

I threw my shaking arms around her, tucking my face into her shoulder and hugging her as tight as I could. “I can’t believe it- we did it. We actually fucking did it.”

Julia laughed, though it easily may have been a sob. “Yeah, we did. Thank you, Jess. I never could’ve done this without you.”

“Too _right_ you couldn’t’ve.” I joked. I reached up to mop at the tears blooming in my eyes, overwhelmed with relief. It was _over. _The whole nightmare…the pressure, the chaos, the impending deadline of the collapse of reality…it was over. We’d fixed it.

Ever-practical Jacek was looking around at the impossible brightness of the gates. “Uh, guys? We might have to cut this short. Look.”

I turned, still helping support Julia with her hurt leg, and gasped involuntarily. Light appeared to be slowly leaching out of the five gates, turning the ground outside the glazed-terracotta circle into pure white nothingness. Like lava, the white ever so slowly spread out, fading the In-Between little by little.

Essa had long since gone silent, but I noticed that she still hadn’t moved, curled desolately on the ground only a few paces away from her gate.

“We should go.” I muttered. Looking back at the other two Primes, I saw that they were both lit up with a strange inner light, making them seem slightly transparent. The In-Between was more than back to normal- with all the timelines fixed, who knew what was going to happen to it? To _us?_

“Is this…_it_, then? When we go back to our own times…will we ever meet again? Will we ever deal with the timelines again?” Jacek asked, a tinge of sadness in his voice.

Julia looked around at the gates again. “I don’t know. I doubt it…and I kind of hope not.”

“Yeah…” he said slowly. “Well, I guess this is goodbye, then.”

I reached over to pull him into a quick hug. I wished we had time for a longer farewell, but it was probably best if we didn’t stick around. “Bye. Good luck with…everything.” I told him quietly, remembering that he still had most of his Admin quest to deal with.

“You too.” he replied as he stepped back, towards his gate. He briefly waved with his un-gauntleted hand, then turned and disappeared into the white abyss to his timeline.

“Jess.” Julia said softly, resting a gentle hand on my shoulder. “We don’t have a lot of time, but I need to thank you. I mean it- thank you for _everything_. I know I dragged you through multiple kinds of hell in the past few weeks, but you went with it, and you helped me anyways. You…I’m definitely gonna remember this adventure, I can tell you that.”

“Me too.” I murmured. “And don’t worry- we both know most of the ‘hell’ I went through was my own fault. I’m glad I got the chance to help.”

She smiled, though it still held a distinct aura of sadness. “Yeah…and, even if we don’t see each other again…I believe in you. You can make yourself a future where you’re happy, I _know it_. You’re strong and smart and crazy enough, and…god, I’m gonna miss you so much.”

I pulled her into one last hug, wishing there was time to say everything I was thinking. I knew it too- I’d already gotten a start in reshaping my future, and it was thanks to this adventure that I’d even realized I needed to.

“Goodbye.” I whispered. “Trust me, I’ll remember this forever.”

As though in unspoken agreement, we both turned away, looking back to our timelines, our _homes_.

I still had tears on my face as I stepped into my gate, catching one last glance at the beautiful, strange sight of the In-Between, before the perfect pure white enveloped me for the last time.


	46. To Build A Better Life (epilogue)

“So like I was saying, it’d probably be best to go through the Mooshroom biome on our way to that temple, cause even though it’s a little out of the way, it’s SUPER cool and definitely worth it. And I can’t wait to check out that one place in that Mesa for real- it needed multiple people to even open the entrance, so I never even got to step foot inside.”

“Really? I’m surprised you didn’t just bust your way in.”

“Nahh, I have at least a _little_ respect for cool old architecture. Plus, I…was a little afraid of accidentally setting off a booby trap that might blow my head off.”

I only hear the tail end of the conversation as Radar and I catch up to Petra and Olivia as they wait near the Beacontown gate, but it’s enough. They both sound so happy, so ready to be out in the world again as a team. Exactly how I feel.

“Petra, you’d better not be planning on anything that’ll get Jess blown up. He promised to come back here _alive_.” Radar scolds, though the words are empty of malice. Although he’s a little concerned about having full responsibility of Beacontown, I know he’s just as glad as the rest of us that we’re going.

Petra leans gently on her horse, a large black stallion ironically named Jayne. “Don’t _worry_. This’ll be just like old times- I swear all the life-risking will be within completely reasonable bounds.” she says, waving a hand flippantly.

“Sounds good to me.” I say cheerfully, taking Inara’s lead from Olivia and checking the straps on the full saddlebags. _Just like old times_.  
I’d stopped believing I’d hear those words again.

The past few weeks have felt like a very surreal dream. Everything has gone completely back to normal, and only improved from there. Once my friends had determined that we were all okay (which took longer than strictly necessary, in my opinion), we started figuring out what to do next. We all knew that we wanted to go back to adventuring together the way we used to, so what was stopping us?

After a transfer of power in Redstonia and a few days of negotiations in Boom Town…nothing at all.

There hasn’t been a single glitch in reality since the great battle in the In-Between, and I decided it was probably safe now to tell my friends the truth about the timelines.

There had been mixed reactions: Olivia was fascinated by the concept and needled Lukas, Radar, and I into telling her absolutely everything we found out; Petra had seemed downright terrified of the idea and refused to hear more than the basic summary of what had happened; and Axel, most surprisingly, had been curious but hesitant. He’d said the entire idea seemed dangerous, and that he was glad it was over now.

Because it really did seem to be completely over. My curiosity had gotten the better of me, and several days ago I tried making a gate to the In-Between.

It hadn’t worked- I’d stood there tracing my sword around like an idiot for a few moments before accepting that the bridge between timelines had been broken for good. This is for the best, obviously, but it had still given me a small pang of loss.

I wonder what Julia is doing now that reality is fixed. I wonder how she’s managing with her Admin powers, and if Stella is still furious at her for disappearing for so long.

I miss her more than I’d care to admit. We grew a lot closer than I’d expected during this adventure, and I know I’ll still be missing her for a long time. But somehow, I know that she’s okay.

I’m drawn out of my thoughts by Axel hurrying up, having traded his griefer getup for more sensible travelling clothes. “Yo! What are we waiting for?”

Olivia makes a show of looking around. “Well, we’ve got our horses, our stuff, our maps…we just seem to be missing an entire _person.”_

“Oh, he’ll show up.” Petra laughs. “Lukas used to do this _all the time_ when we went on trips. He’s just a homebody.”

I turn to look at Radar, who is absent-mindedly biting his nails. “I know you’re a little nervous, but you’ll be fine. We both know you’ve been essentially running this town for the past few months anyways.” I try to assure him.

He smiles, a little tensely, and reaches up to adjust his glasses. They’re a new pair- his favorite ones were apparently broken when Essa threw him into the ‘control’ timeline. “Yeah, I know. It’ll still be really different without you here, though.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back.” I promise. We’ve already discussed this a few times, but I know he could use the boost of confidence. “You just need to keep things running for a little while, and I _know_ you can do that. If you can survive being dragged through four different realities in less than a week, you can handle looking after one measly little town.”

He laughs, then puffs out his chest. “You bet I can. I’ll make you proud, Jess.”

I lean in to pull him into a tight hug. “You already have.” I murmur.

I know that I came _very_ close to losing him- to losing everything. If even _one_ thing had gone differently during that battle…we might not all still be standing here today. The darkest future was so, so close, and I’ll never stop being grateful that it didn’t consume me.

“THERE you bloody are!” Petra suddenly shouts. She’s already sitting in the saddle, shaking the reigns at the two men walking up.

Lukas at least has the decency to look ashamed. “Sorry, I know. I’m just…y’know.”

“Being incredibly manic for no good reason.” Aiden supplies brightly. Lukas elbows him, and Aiden replies to this by pressing a kiss against his forehead.

“_Awh_.” Petra says sarcastically. “Now are we going, or what?”

Lukas sticks his tongue out at her, and she grins sharply and flips him off. The two of them have settled into a different sort of friendship than they had before, a little rougher around the edges and less codependent than they used to be. But they’re not being rude or avoiding each other like the plague anymore, so I’ll take it.

At least I have a reality with them both. I have a world where, at the very least, we’ve all found some sort of peace and happiness, and I will forever be thankful for that.

I haven’t forgotten the nightmare images I saw in the inverted future realm, and I haven’t forgotten the hopelessness that hung over the ‘control’ timeline.

I haven’t forgotten Essa.

Sometimes I wonder what exactly happened to her. I don’t know if she went back to her timeline, or let the disappearance of the In-Between swallow her. If she’s still alive…what is she doing now that all her plans have crumbled? Was that the end for her? Will she ever truly give up?

I’ve thought of this several times, but I’m not sure I want to know the answer. 

I swing myself up into the saddle as Lukas and Aiden share a quick good-bye kiss. “You had better write. Even if I can’t respond back immediately, I expect to know about _every_ weird old temple you guys find.” Aiden orders gently.

“Of course. I’ll keep you posted.” Lukas assures him, smiling. “And we’re not leaving forever- I’ll be back sooner or later.”

“Probably later, considering how long it’s taking us to get out of here.” Olivia snarks good-naturedly. Lukas rolls his eyes, but noticeably doesn’t waste any more time in getting up onto his horse.

“Finally! Let’s GOOO!” Petra exclaims, steering her horse out the open gates of the town and nudging him quickly into a canter. Sammy woofs excitedly, running out ahead.

The rest of us follow, whooping and laughing. I feel impossibly light, like I could fly off into the morning sky unrestrained.

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been this happy and carefree, and I want to hang onto it for as long as I can. It doesn’t _feel_ like something that’s destined to fade, though, and I’m hoping that instinct is true.

I’m sure there will be more problems to solve, more world-threatening things to deal with. I don’t know if that’s the last we’ve seen of Essa, or the last time I’ll have to deal with reality falling apart.

But for now?

We are the Order of the Stone, and the world is waiting for us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end :]


	47. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Holy shit.

Holy. Actual. Shit.

Is that actually the end? Am I actually done with this book? Looks like it.

Well. Now I gotta stop crying long enough to think about what I want to say here.

Writing Parallels was an adventure from start to finish, and even that is an understatement. The idea came in October 2018, and I officially started writing it February 2019 (on the plane home from London, no less). At 168,000+ words and 46 chapters, it is BY FAR the longest thing I've written, being nearly double of basically any of my other MCSM fanfictions.

This story was incredibly freeing, for a lot of reasons. This was the first time that I'd written ahead of myself, being at most, over 20 chapters ahead of what was posted. It took away so much stress- I was free to make this the best story I've yet written, with no worries about deadlines or having not enough time to edit. I had to go on a few writing hiatuses here and there, but it never impacted my posting, which was something that greatly relaxed me.

I fell absolutely in love with this story, with everything from the characters to the plot twists to the ridiculous time-space nonsense. As mentioned above, I spent over three months planning before actually beginning to write, and it was just so exciting to be able to write the scenes and interactions I'd imagined in my head; and even more exhilarating to read comments and see votes/favorites/kudos and know that people were enjoying the book I poured my absolute soul into.

I truly wanted to make Parallels the best thing I've yet written, and I honestly think I've accomplished that. I'm proud of this, and holy shit does it feel good to be able to say that.

This book made me feel a lot better about myself, which I think I really needed. December 2018 to February 2019 was a really hard time for me- one of my very best friends had just died, and I was being forced to grow up a little more than I was ready to. I'd started drifting away from another project I'd been really passionate about, which was hurting me for multiple reasons. Long story short, I could've ended up in a very dark place last year, and it's really because of writing this that I didn't. When I got overly sad or stressed or lonely, I would write or plan Parallels, and it ended up being more important to me than I could've imagined.

Essa and Jess ended up being particularly close to my heart. Maybe I'm weird, but I love watching the main protagonist fuck up and make stupid decisions; some that affect only him, some that spiral off and become even larger problems. No one is 100% infallible, and I think it's very important to show that applies even to 'heroes'. Jess's whole thing is that he tries his best, even when his best isn't going to be enough. He falls and fails and needs help, but he still gets up and keeps trying. This was, in my opinion, one of the things that defined 'Jesse' most as a character, and I wanted to show it as much as possible in this story.

And Essa. I'm glad I had the chance to show all the sides of her- although she's irreversibly a villain, under all those layers of vengeance and anger she was just a lonely girl who wants her friends back. But that doesn't excuse what she does to get them back, and it certainly doesn't redeem her. That was my whole point for her, honestly. I wanted an intimidating villain that one could feel sorry for, but still hope she gets taken down. She might've started out with decent intentions, but all her good sides have long since been worn away when she _intentionally_ chose the darkest paths.

I spent a good amount of time waffling around about the ending of this whole thing. For a while, I was genuinely considering having the fake chapter 44 be the real ending. The mean gremlin part of my brain kept saying "no, this is too good of an ending for a story this horrible. don't make it happy", and I almost listened to it.  
But I love this story too much. I love the characters, and I love the wild shit I put them through, and in the end, I wanted it to be satisfying. I wanted these poor kids to be happy again, and I wanted to keep the hopeful feeling of MCSM despite the craziness of this story. So I went back to my original ending, and I'm very glad I did.

Over the course of writing, I toyed with the idea of a sequel here and there. There were still a few things that I thought about exploring, like more about Essa's timeline, Giselle's past, Jasper's uncertain future, or what else might happen to the recently reunited Order. Especially that one.  
I still may do something about one or more of these, but for now, I'm not ready to commit to a second part. I do still have several stories in the works, though, so check those out if you're interested!

Now let's talk about some people who are also very important.

Again, giant giant thank-you to [becca4leafclover](https://www.wattpad.com/user/becca4leafclover). When you commented your theory way back in October 2018, and I said I wanted to steal the idea, neither of us had any way of knowing what a crazy, long, fun roller-coaster ride it would be. Thank you for letting me completely take over this idea, and for just being my friend. You're awesome.

Another humongous thank-you to my IRL best friend Genna- you helped a LOT with this story, and I'm eternally grateful. Even when the 'help' was literally just listening to me ramble, it was still fantastic. You're incredible and I don't know what on earth I did to deserve you. Thank you thank you thank you.

Hugs and cookies to my Wattpad friends AwesomeYay99, Pteragon, DragonNadder, actually_star, mr-mcstorymode, and The_Winged_Warrior- you guys were often the first people to vote or comment, and it always made my day to see what you thought about it. I owe ya one. 

(Also to my Discord Crew™ for tolerating my nonstop rabid screaming. Thanks. Love y'all.)

Same goes to my DeviantArt friends ThatEmeraldKat and coughandcolds- you guys always left the most interesting comments, and it made me super happy to know that someone was analyzing the story the way I'd hoped people would when I wrote it. You're both too great.

And of course, I'm legally required to thank my family as well, for dealing with me when I was being a psycho author. There were a lot of evenings when they wanted to watch Supernatural and I wanted to write, and I won. Thanks for that. Also for supplying me with Goldfish crackers when I needed snacks to keep my brain functioning.

If you want to see some of the fun facts I complied while writing this mess, head over [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MD2Uk-bfzVIeOpr1onHEIkwbKUtU0X3HHleml6JiKTo/edit?usp=sharing) ^^

I hope you enjoyed reading this, even if it _is_ crazy long and unforgivably feels-y. I absolutely loved being able to share this story with all of you.

If you haven't yet, check out some of my other works! None of them are quite as good as I think this one is, but I would recommend The Other Side of Nowhere (being posted this Saturday!), No Rest for the Wicked, or Complications.

Thank you all for the love and support. I honest to god couldn't have done this without you.

❣💕💓💞💖💗

-Rush


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